Lost and Found
by djinni14
Summary: This story will be told in 3 parts all under the same name to make things easier on the readers. You've lost something or someone. What if you could have it back. What are your chances? Let's find out. - Now Complete
1. Chapter 1

**Dead - 1**

 **The beginning and the end**

Rick was getting dressed and had reached an impass. Then Alexis walked in, knowing her dad was running late. She took both ties out of his hands and gave him back one of them. She was right, of course. "What would I do without you?"

"Go naked." Alexis grinned and patted his shoulder. "Grams and I will be out front waiting should you decide to join us." She couldn't resist poking him. "Or do you need me to tie your tie also?"

"I can manage fine, thank you." He wasn't that incompetent. He was capable of tying his own tie. Alexis smiled, happy that she'd gotten her dig in and left the bedroom.

Rick was looking in the mirror and had his tie in two hands when suddenly he was somewhere else. He wasn't surprised and had long since gotten used to it.

The space he was in was void of anything. There was literally nothing for as far as the eye could see. Actually if he could see beyond that there would still be nothing and he knew it.

Suddenly his charge showed up. Who it was was a great surprise and yet not really that great a surprise. It was also a satisfaction that he was here. Rick smiled though he tried to hide it.

"Castle?" Tyson hadn't expected to see him so fast. He looked around and then at his hands. He was slightly annoyed that the weapon that had been in his hand a moment ago was gone. Then he pressed a hand to his chest where he had been shot.

"Confused?" Rick knew he was just like all the others.

"NO!" Tyson wasn't going to let him win or think he was smarter than he was.

"Liar." Castle was the master here and he knew Tyson, like all the others, had no idea where he was. "This way, Tyson." Rick started walking and didn't look to see if the killer joined him. He was actually silently hoping that he didn't.

Tyson saw literally nothing else. The house he had been in was gone. The desk, the monitor, everything except for Castle. Odd...he was dressed in different clothes. How he had managed to do that confused him for now.

He began walking to catch up. "Wondering where you are?" Castle questioned and smiled a little.

"No." Tyson was betting it was a hallucination or a dream.

"Nope, not a hallucination and not a dream," Rick suddenly informed him. Tyson's eyes widened with a touch of horror. He was off balance and a little shocked. "Care to guess again?" Rick was sure he would never guess correctly.

Tyson looked up at him a little confused. What he needed was an advantage. But he didn't know what was going on. He needed time to plan everything.

"You don't have the advantage here and you have no need to plan anything," Rick said smugly, then smiled.

That had Tyson stopping where he was. What Castle had just done was impossible! However, Castle didn't stop walking and he had to run to catch up. He still looked around to try and find something. Anything that would help him. He needed information so he could plan what to do next. His plans hadn't included this, whatever this was.

"Feeling a little lost?" Rick smiled a little wider. "Better stick close or you'll get lost here…forever." He actually gave consideration to leaving him here for a moment, though he also knew better than to try.

"So where are we?" He was smarter than Castle. He just needed a little information to prove it, again.

Castle chuckled lightly that Tyson thought he was that smart. "It's called the Void."

"Void? Between what and what?" It looked empty but that might be just how it looked. Then he inhaled and sniffed. He literally smelled nothing.

"The Void between where you were and where you need to go next." Rick didn't need to look to know that he was confused. "You're dead, Tyson, and this is the place between your old life and where you need to go."

Suddenly Tyson's chest hurt – it hurt a lot. He pressed a hand to his chest and actually stumbled a little.

"Remember now?" Rick smiled since he knew what Tyson was experiencing.

" _This isn't about me_ _,_ _is it_ _?_ _This is so much more than that. This is about you. Your inadequacy. All the games, all the manipulation. After I screwed up your plans, you needed to prove that you were smarter than me. You needed to know that you could control me."_

" _Well_ _,_ _you're here."_

" _You know_ _,_ _I've written characters like you. People so psychopath_ _ic_ _,_ _so_ _narcissistic that they believe that they can't get caught. Because the_ _y're_ _smarter than everyone and they need to prove it. That's your story, Jerry. Why you did everything. You needed to prove it. So I let you."_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _It was the only way to find you. I needed to find you so that I could find her. But the truth_ _,_ _Jerry, the truth is I lured you here. To watch you die. …Are we clear?"_

" _Clear about what?"_

" _Then take the shot."_

Suddenly the pain in his chest intensified to a point that he groaned from all the pain.

"You're dead, Tyson. That was your life flashing before your eyes. Your very last moment in life. You might want to relish it. Take it and make it yours because it's all yours." Rick kept walking.

Tyson had stopped again. He doubled over and was bending down, holding a hand to his chest in an effort to make the pain go away.

"Whether the pain goes away is yet to be determined," Rick said. Tyson opened his mouth in shock yet again. Castle seemed to know everything he was thinking. It was impossible though.

Still Castle wasn't going to get the better of him. He might not have a weapon but he was betting he was in better shape than Castle was, so he rushed him. And went right through him like he didn't exist. "Remember I told you this was the Void, Tyson." Rick stopped and smiled at him as he stood there gaping at him.

"This way." Rick started walking again.

"And if I don't?" Tyson wasn't going to let him win. He just needed to figure things out.

"Then you will remain in the Void forever." Rick smiled at him and kept walking.

Tyson began walking but stayed behind him so that Castle couldn't see him. Tyson offered his take on where he was. "So if I'm dead, is this Limbo?"

Rick shook his head. "Limbo is actually a place. This is the Void. It's nothing. Limbo is something, this is nothing."

Tyson and Rick just kept walking. "And here we are." Rick stopped. Tyson started looking and suddenly he saw a wall of doors. Each door was different somehow. Different wood, different color, different size. None alike.

He didn't understand how it suddenly showed up when before there had been nothing. Tyson actually chuckled. "I expected you to be taking me to the Gates of Hell." This didn't look like Hell to him, but then it didn't look like the Pearly Gates, either.

"This is where I take everyone, including you." Rick just stood there.

Tyson looked right, then left, then up, and then down. Somehow everywhere he looked he saw a door.

"Choose."

"What?" Tyson didn't understand.

"Choose a door. What's on the other side is your next life. Choose." Rick waved his hand at all the doors.

Tyson suspected a trap. "Choose, just like that?"

"No trap, choose. What's on the other side is your next life." Rick smiled that he had Tyson still a little confused.

"Just choose a door and that's it? What if I choose a door that leads me to Paradise?" His idea of Paradise, that is. Tyson looked at all of the doors.

"Then it does. …I see you've made your choice." Rick was happy that he hadn't taken forever to choose a door.

"What are you talking about? I haven't chosen a…" Tyson looked and all that was left was a single door. All of the others were gone.

It was a door. It looked totally unremarkable. It had two panels and it was completely yellow in color; it was just standing there. Nothing was holding it up. Even the door knob looked unremarkable.

For a door he had expected something more. He was Jerry Tyson, after all.

"Your door," Rick informed him and started to walk away.

"You expect me to just open it and walk through." Tyson would laugh if it wasn't so damn weird.

"What you do is no longer my concern. My job is to escort people who have died across the Void to their door. Go through the door or not. I don't care. Stay here in the Void forever if you like. There is literally nothing in the Void. No time, no space, literally nothing. Goodbye, Tyson, we will not see each other again." Well Rick hoped he wouldn't. It was just that when it came to death and his job, time had no meaning.

Tyson in his world wasn't dead yet, which for him meant they would be seeing each other again. He now knew how Tyson died and why, though. Tyson had shown him everything. Just that it also showed him that Tyson had taken Kate captive some how and that concerned him greatly.

Rick just kept walking. He needed to reach the other side so he could continue with his life. Provided that he wasn't instantly needed again.

Yes, hundreds if not thousands of people died daily and it was his job to escort each of them across the Void to reach the doors and their next life. It was just that time meant nothing in this job. Time was so fluid that Rick didn't have a concept of it.

Rick stopped since he really did want to know. He just stood there and wondered if he should turn around and look. But after the first few times he'd learned that he never saw the world that his charge went to. He had no idea where any of the doors led. But he was happy that he wasn't Death himself. He simply thought of himself as a guide. A tourist guide.

Rick chuckled softly and shook his head. He was a stinking tourist guide.

However, it did tell him that there was a life after death and that that life wasn't set in stone. Though technically he didn't know that. He had seen a lot of doors over the years and he had no idea which was his or if he even had one.

Did a tourist guide have a door? When he died, did he guide himself across the Void to his door or was he going to be replaced and someone else would guide him across this same Void?

Rick sighed and just before he heard the door behind him close, he could hear Tyson screaming. It sounded like a bloodcurdling scream. Like his very soul was screaming for all that it was worth.

"Poetic justice or just blind luck?" Rick didn't know but he was a little relieved that Tyson wasn't in Paradise. He began walking again until he found himself walking out of his bedroom where Alexis and his mother waiting for him.

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"Roy Montgomery taught me what it meant to be a cop. Taught me that we are bound by our choices. We are more than our mistakes. Captain Montgomery once tole me that for us there is no victory. There are only battles. And in the end the best we can hope for is to find a place and make your stand. And if you're very lucky, you find someone willing to stand with you.

"Our Captain would want us to carry on the fight. Even if there is–"

" **KATE!** " Rick ran as hard as he could and feared the worst as he tackled Kate to the ground. He'd heard the shot along with everyone else. The screaming around him was drowned out as he could only hear his own heartbeat.

"Kate, stay with me, Kate. Kate, I love you. I love you Kate." He watched her close her eyes. He just knew the guy he didn't want to be had come far too close to home. He had touched the woman he loved so very much.

Suddenly he hated his other job. He hated it with a passion. He knew what came next. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow or even weeks from now. Time meant nothing. He would see Kate again but not in a way that he wanted to.

~{o}~0~{o}~

"Kate, don't you die on me. Stay with me, stay with me." Lanie was riding the gurney as they wheeled her down the corridor toward an operating room. "She's my friend you understand me? She's my friend." Lanie needed to make this plain for everyone to understand.

"Then let us save her life," a man she didn't know but worked for the hospital told her.

Lanie stood there, knowing her life went into that operating room. She barely noticed Castle standing next to her. She didn't even notice all the blood that was on her. All of it Kate's blood.

~{o}~0~{o}~

Rick looked around. "OH, GOD!" He suddenly found it hard to breathe and didn't notice the tears that started to fall. "Please no, let it be someone else. Anyone else." He knew what that sounded like. He was asking for someone else to be dead. Not Kate.

A voice he knew well called out. "Castle?" It had him cringing. His heart had stopped beating, he just knew it. He slowly turned to look. He didn't want to see her. Maybe it was someone who sounded like her. But it wasn't. It was Kate. His Kate.

She looked confused and she was looking around. All she saw was Castle. "Castle?" Where was she? What had happened? She was glad to see him, but why was it just him?

Rick tried to croak out her name, but he couldn't. His heart was trapped in his throat. He even knew what she was thinking, just like all the other people.

"What happened? Where is everyone?" She was at Roy's funeral so where did everyone go?

"Kate." Rick managed to get her name out as he stepped closer and took her by her shoulders.

He couldn't get the words out; he could feel his tears and feel his lower lip quivering. The pain in his chest was almost overwhelming. Kate Beckett, the love of his life, was dead and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Why are you crying?" Kate reached up to wipe away some of his tears.

"I…" Rick didn't know what to do. He had no one he could talk to about this. He had been given the job and he had never seen anyone ever again. Only dead people. He hadn't even ever seen Death himself, just his aftereffects.

Kate placed a hand on her chest since suddenly it hurt and the pain was only increasing.

Rick grabbed her hands. "No, don't think about it. Kate, please don't think." Maybe if she didn't remember. If she didn't see her life flash before her eyes, it wouldn't happen.

Kate started to remember. "I…I was shot."

"NO! It's just a bad dream. A nightmare." A horrible waking nightmare to be sure.

"You…you tackled me." Kate looked up at him, questioning him for an answer.

"Kate." It was useless. She was dead and he only had one thing he could do. He couldn't let her get lost here. Not here.

"You…" Kate remembered him saying something.

"Come on, Kate, this way." Rick put his arm around her, held her tight to him, and started walking. He knew just where to go and how to get there.

There was only one thing left he could do for her. Just one last thing.

"Where are we?" Kate didn't see anything or anyone except for Castle.

"This is the Void."

Kate didn't understand. She had never heard of anyplace called the Void.

"It's an empty place between one place and another. My job is to help people get across it."

That didn't make any sense to her. He was a writer, not doing whatever this was. "From where to where?"

"From…where you were to where you need to go." Rick just couldn't bring himself to tell her that she was dead.

"From Roy's funeral to where?" Suddenly Kate almost fell to her knees and doubled over in pain. It was severe pain, mind-numbing pain, and it was in her chest. She clenched her hand on her chest, willing for the pain to go away.

"It'll pass, Kate, it'll pass." Rick knew she was starting to remember and feel herself dying.

Rick really wanted to get this over with. He couldn't take it much longer so he helped Kate to stand up and start walking.

Kate looked at her hand but she didn't see anything. Somehow in her mind she knew her hand should be covered in blood. "I was shot…wasn't I?" She trusted Castle to tell her.

"Kate, please." He couldn't go through this again. He was still seeing all of it in his mind like it had just happened since it just had.

"We're here," Rick announced. Kate looked at him and then past him. All she saw was doors. Door, after door, after door. She looked left, right, up, and down. All she saw was doors. They all looked different.

"Where are we?" She had never seen this place before.

"Choose a door, Kate. The door you chose will take you to your next life. Choose wisely." It was all Rick could offer her now.

Kate looked at Castle and remembered. "I was shot." Her eyes grew wide. "I'm dead, aren't I? Aren't I, Castle?"

Rick's heart was already hurting. "Yes." Now it hurt even more. Was this what Kate felt when Johanna had been killed? Suddenly he didn't remember ever taking her to these doors. Time was such a fickle thing. He was taking Kate to the doors before he took her mother.

"What are these doors?" Kate didn't really understand. She needed for him to explain.

He didn't want to, he really didn't. But it was his job. "You died and it's my job to escort you across the nothing of the Void to here. You need to pick one of these doors. On the other side is your next life. This is what comes next after you die." Rick really did and didn't want to get this over with.

He knew that after she chose a door and went through he would cry, sob, for weeks, maybe longer. Maybe the pain of losing her would actually kill him and he could follow her through the door she chose and chase her down.

"Chose a door, Kate." Rick looked at her and wished with all his soul. In his peripheral vision he saw all the doors go away. He knew she'd chosen a door.

He turned his head so he could study it. Every last inch of it. It was a light beige and it had small handprints on the lower panel. Prints that a child would leave. Was this Kate's door when she was a little girl? It explained why she had chosen it.

"Castle?" She wanted to stay. She remembered something else now. It was just that it confused her a little. She needed time to understand what he had said.

"Step through, Kate." He needed to leave. He couldn't watch her die again. To leave him and live his life without her. He still had no idea how he was going to do that.

Rick began walking and couldn't look back. He desperately wanted to know, but just couldn't watch. He knew what the door looked like and hoped that would be enough for when or even if his time ever came.

Kate had figured it out and he needed to know while she could still tell him. "I love you too, Rick."

Hearing her, Rick fell to his knees and let his tears, pain, and sobs take over. Only Kate would tell him that she loved him when it was all over, with no hope for a future together.


	2. Chapter 2

**Dead - 2**

 **Surprise, Surprise, Surprise**

Rick was in the waiting room with all the rest. Sadly, he already knew the answer. Although he didn't want to hear it again, he felt he owed it to the others to be there. He had even endured Josh chasing him out and blaming him for Kate's being shot in the first place. He had poked his nose into her mother's case and had placed a bullseye on her back. Though in this case it was more chest than back, not that it really mattered. Dead was dead.

He barely even acknowledged when someone came out and called for the Beckett family. He actually hung his head even lower. After Jim was told he was betting that Jim would tell the rest of them. This was easily the worst day of his life. It had him thinking back to the day that he was selected to escort dead people across the Void to the doors that would lead to their next life.

"She's alive." Jim couldn't believe it. He had been expecting the worst. "She's in serious but stable condition. They're going to keep her for a number of days. Right now they're only allowing family to see her. So if you'll excuse me." Jim left them and followed the doctor who had come out to talk to him.

"She's alive, Dad!" Alexis hugged her father who looked like death warmed over. At first Rick hadn't really heard her. Then it sunk in what she had said. "What?" He turned his head to look at his daughter.

"Kate's alive. They say she's in serious but stable condition. They're going to keep her in the hospital for a while, but she's alive." Alexis went back to hugging him. The young redhead wasn't a big fan of Kate thanks to how she had treated her dad, but she had never wanted Kate dead.

Rick sat up straight. "Alive?" It was impossible. He had personally escorted her to the doors that would lead to her next life. It was impossible, wasn't it?

He could picture the door she had chosen. Had that door led her right back to her old life? Was that even an option that everyone had? He had dreamed up all sorts of options that could be on the other side of a door. He didn't even really know how the doors worked. His only job was to escort people across the Void.

He had, however, learned how to put to use what he learned as each person revisited the moment of their death. It had told him a lot about people. Granted so far the majority of people simply died. Old age caught up to them or some illness took them. People died in all kinds of accidents. He could remember that he had even looked into how to make his house the safest house on the planet. How could he make sure that Alexis didn't die from an accident.

He was past all that now but he could still remember those early days.

"Alive." Rick tried it on for size. He sat back in his chair and let Alexis watch him laugh and cry all at the same time. She should be dead, but she was alive!

He also needed to start planning for the future. Tyson was going to capture Kate and he was going to beat him at his own game and have Javi kill him from long range. He needed to be ready. Ready to keep her from being taken and ready to beat him again using the knowledge that he had just learned.

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Rick couldn't be more nervous. It had been days but the hospital had finally moved Kate out of the ICU and she was now allowed visitors outside of family members. He stood outside the door leading to her room, trying to think of what to say. Nothing like this had happened before. Dead was dead.

Opening the door, he found Kate sitting up in bed and her room was filled with flowers. He also found Doctor Motorcycle Boy sitting on the edge of the bed. The one person that he didn't need to see was comforting Kate.

It reminded him of his place in her life. On the outside looking in. Rick offered up the flowers he was holding. "I heard you were opening a flower shop. I thought I would contribute." His flowers were actually a little pitiful compared to some of the others in her room. Still it was a hospital room. When she was out he would have her room filled with flowers. An entire flower shop would be delivered to her.

"Hi, Castle. I must look really bad." Kate wasn't sure just what to say.

Rick shook his head. "You look as beautiful as always. What do you remember?" He really needed an answer to that question.

"Can we talk later? I'm really tired." Kate needed more time to understand what she knew or thought she knew. To work out if any of it was real.

"Sure." Rick would give her time. All the time she needed. "I'll be back tomorrow."

"Can I call you? I want to be awake enough to talk." She was already fading fast.

"Sure, I'll be waiting. Get better, Kate." What he wanted to do was what Josh had done when he left. Kiss her forehead, but he wasn't her boyfriend. He was…he didn't know what he was to her. It was one of many problems that he and they had been avoiding for a while now. And it looked like they would be avoiding this one, too.

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"Why so glum, Richard? Kate's alive." Martha found him moping in his study sitting at his desk. She was thankful that at least he didn't have a glass of alcohol sitting on it.

"It's been a week, Mother, and she hasn't called." Rick had let her have her time and he'd gotten nothing in return.

"Richard." Martha knew what she wanted to say but also knew that her son didn't want to hear it. But she wasn't going to let that stop her. "So you told her that you love her. She has a boyfriend, that tall doctor. What did you expect her to do? Throw him in front of a bus and let you in in his place?

"You two should have been talking to each other all this time. Instead you danced around her like she was made of egg shells. One little misstep and you would kill her. That's not how relationships work, kiddo. I would have thought you had learned that by now." He was divorced twice, after all.

"I wish it was that simple." It seemed everything with Kate was complicated. One day he thought he read that Kate was interested in him and the next she was being hugged and kissed by Josh right in front of him.

"It is if you make it that simple. She could have died, Richard. It's time to put your cards on the table. Don't wait for her, go talk to her." Martha pushed one last time. If he didn't get moving then what happened next was all his doing.

"And if she pushes me away again?" It was what she always did.

"Then at least you'll know. Right now you're sitting in limbo. If you don't talk to her you're going to find her walking down the aisle with that doctor at the other end. Will that make you happy?" Maybe a little shock treatment would get her son moving.

Martha gave her last warning as she walked out of his study. "The longer you wait, the worse its going to get." She loved her son, she truly did. It was just that when it came to women… He lived around them and worked with them. She didn't understand how he could be so clueless sometimes.

She turned back to his study for one last piece of advice. "Richard, women want to be chased. They want to know that a man truly wants them. To know that they're loved. So go chase her. If you lose, you lose." At least it would be over.

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Rick was leaving the hospital, dejected and worried. She had been discharged mostly at her insistence and it had him worried for her. Where would she go? He feared that Kate would go it alone since she was so stubborn like that.

His next stop had him knocking and waiting. He let out a breath when Jim answered the door. "Rick!" Jim wasn't sure who could be knocking on his door, but he was happy it was Rick. "Come in. Kate's busy packing so you're just in time." Jim closed the door behind him.

"Katie has decided that she wants to get better outside of the city. But if something goes wrong, the closest hospital is miles away. I've tried talking to her but she won't listen to me. Maybe she'll listen to you." Jim hated this idea, but his daughter was always just too head strong. And stupid.

"I'm going to go get some more bandages for her. I'll be back in about an hour." Jim was hoping that an hour was enough for these two.

Rick was wondering around looking at everything. "Castle?" The sound of her voice had him turning and the look on her face told him a lot. Mostly that this had been a bad idea.

"You didn't call so I came to say hi. Only to find that you had checked yourself out of the hospital." Rick was betting it was against her doctors' wishes.

"I hate hospitals and they couldn't do anything for me that I couldn't do myself." Kate wasn't interested in listening to him condemn her choice.

"I just came by to see how you were doing. I wanted to make sure you were getting the best care." Rick was pretty sure what her answer would be.

"I'll be fine, you don't need to be spending money on me."

Her response told Rick a lot. "It's not about the money. I thought you would have learned that by now. I guess I was wrong. Maybe wrong about a lot of things." Like even coming here. Nothing had changed and he should have known better.

Kate really wanted to sit down but if she did it would hurt a lot and it would give Castle a reason to stay. "As you can see, I'm doing better. Not great yet, but better." Kate started to raise her arms but even that would hurt. Hell, everything hurt.

"So I see." Yeah, this was a really bad idea. "I'm going to go. I'm glad that you're feeling better and alive. It's a big city but maybe I'll run into you again." He was going to give Kate the space she obviously wanted.

"Yeah, maybe." Kate couldn't think of what to say. She knew that was a lie; she was filled with questions. It was just that they all involved her heart.

"Good luck with your recovery." Rick headed for the door. Kate said nothing so he opened it and started to leave. "Just make sure the next time I see you it's actually in the city and not nowhere." He closed the door behind him.

Kate opened her eyes wide. She had convinced herself that it had all been a dream. What he'd said to her at Roy's funeral and everything that had happened after that. It was enough that it had Kate moving suddenly, she needed to stop him. But the movement caused such severe pain that it had her stopping and stumbling for a place to sit down.

~{o}~0~{o}~

"You're back early." Martha wasn't expecting to see him for at least several hours.

"Yeah, I am." Rick went past her and headed for the freezer and pulled out a small container of ice cream.

"Oh dear, ice cream. What went wrong?" What had her son done this time?

"Nothing, everything. Kate checked herself out of the hospital. She's planning on healing herself without the hospital's help. Likely with Dr. Davidson's personal help instead." Rick scooped out a spoonful and ate it.

"Did she say so?" Or was her son reading between the lines again?

"It doesn't matter, Mother, she's made her choice." That it didn't include him she had made that clear as far as he was concerned.

Martha didn't believe him but she was done trying to help these two. If they wanted to be miserable alone then she was going to let them. She did think it was a waste, though.

~{o}~0~{o}~

It had been weeks and Rick had been busy, just not busy writing. Suddenly he found himself helping people across the Void. In a way he was thankful for the distraction. It took his mind off of everything.

He had just finished helping a little kid find her way across and choose a door. She reminded him so much of Alexis when she was little. Helping all of the kids had hurt and helped all at the same time. To think that their time here had been so short.

It left him once again wondering what was behind all of the doors. The trip back across the Void was done alone like all the times before. It gave him time to think. Problem was this time he was remembering that Gina was after him for more chapters for the next Nikki Heat book.

It was his last contractual book for the Nikki Heat series and he was seriously considering making it his last one. He even had a name for it. _**DEAD HEAT**_ _._ He knew what Gina would think of that but he hadn't let what she thought stop him when he had killed off Storm and what she thought wasn't going to sway him this time either.

The reasons might be different but that didn't matter. What he didn't understand was why he was still here. "Another one, seriously?" Rick looked around but didn't see anyone or anything.

He did know that there were a few people in the Void. Not everyone took to dying that well. A few, mostly women, had run off crying heavily. Their grief of having died, been killed, or not found what they had been expecting had been too much.

It had only taken a moment for them to get lost in the Void before Rick couldn't even get a word out. He hoped that this wouldn't be another one of those. He was here for a reason and he had always felt like a failure when that happened.

"Castle?" A voice had his eyes opening wide and his heart went straight into his throat. Turning slowly he saw her. It was Kate…again. He tried to say her name but what came out sounded more like a frog's croak.

"Castle?" Kate didn't know what to say. She knew this place. It was just that she had told herself it had been a dream. It was the only thing that made sense to her.

Rick reminded himself that Kate had made her choice. "This way." He began walking, taking her across the Void once again.

"Castle, have we done this before? I seem to recall seeing this before." Kate still wasn't so sure.

Rick didn't want to think about it so he remained silent and just kept walking until he heard Kate cry out in pain. Turning to look, he could see she was doubled over and clutching her chest. She looked up at him in a look of shock. "I…I think I was shot." It started playing out in her mind.

Rick didn't want to but it was part of his job. He watched Kate as she stood on a small porch for a small house. He just knew it was far out in the woods somewhere. She was standing there all alone when suddenly she felt a moment of pain and collapsed onto the porch.

He knew she'd been shot in the chest yet again. She hadn't seen anything or anyone so he had nothing to work with this time, either.

"OH GOD, CASTLE!" Suddenly Kate knew what she had done. Not just to him but to them. "It really happened, didn't it?" She stood there in the middle of nowhere and started to cry.

"I'm so sorry, Castle. I'm a mess and I screwed everything up." Kate couldn't believe she had screwed this up so badly. "I'm sorry," she whispered. She needed to save Rick from her. She was going to ruin him, she just knew it and that couldn't happen.

"I'm sorry, Castle. I love you, too." Kate started running. She didn't have any idea to where, it was just that if she was gone, she would save Castle. Loving her was going to end badly and she loved him far to much to ruin his life.

"KATE, **NO!** " Rick began running after her. It was just that she had only made it a few steps when she vanished from his sight. Rick stopped and spun in place, looking everywhere for her. "Kate, please come back. PLEASE. I love you. We can make this work. Kate, please." But all he saw was nothing.

He couldn't believe it. Of all the people to lose in the Void, it just had to be Kate. He didn't know what to do next. The Void itself was endless and filled with literally nothing, everywhere.

~0~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~0~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~0~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~0~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~0~

Alexis needed to recap what her dad had spent all this time explaining. "Let me see if I get this straight. You're not Death, that's someone else. You just guide them across this…Void. To a wall of doors that takes them to a new life." Alexis thought she had it straight even if it did sound fantastic. Her dad nodded his head.

"Kate died and you escorted her across this Void after she'd been shot. She died but didn't die because of this door she went through." Kate had died and yet hadn't died. "Now she's died again."

Rick knew what it sounded like and was thankful that his daughter had listened this long to him.

"Kate told you that she loved you both times and then she ran off into the Void." This was the part Alexis was having trouble with.

"I know what it sounds like and if it wasn't me I'm sure you would say I'm crazy." Rick thought it sounded like he was crazy.

"Actually I do know you, Dad, and it sounds more than crazy." If it wasn't for a couple of facts she would have stopped listening long ago. "You're a mystery writer not a science fiction writer and we promised to tell each other the truth. So as wild as it sounds, I know it's the truth." Alexis believed her dad. He might be a handful on occasion but she loved and trusted him.

Rick needed to hear it. "So you believe me?"

Alexis chuckled softly. "Yes, Dad, I believe you." Alexis found it amusing that her dad almost collapsed, so much so that she reached out to try and catch him.

"I love her, pumpkin. Like I've never loved anyone. I just don't know what to do now. First she tells me that she loves me, then she ignores me and pushes me away. Then she tells me that she loves me and runs off." Rick was about as confused as he could get. Why was it so hard to understand women? "What?" His daughter was looking at him like he was the most stupid person on the planet.

"You own the Void, Dad. You can't get lost. You're the one person who can say that. So…go find her and this time, talk to her." It was the one part about how her dad acted that pissed her off the most. The two of them wouldn't be in this mess if they had just talked.

"But she's dead. Even after I find her she'll still be dead." Rick didn't see the point.

"She died before, Dad." Alexis didn't see the challenge. Just use the same door again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Dead - 3**

 **Everything old is new again**

Rick knew he couldn't get lost. No matter where in the Void he was he could find the doors or the starting place where all dead people went to to meet him. It was just that as big as the wall of doors was, the Void was so very much bigger.

His problem was that he didn't know where anything else was. He only knew those two things and only those two things. "So which way?" He looked around.

It didn't matter where Kate had run off to. Even if he went that way she wasn't going to be there now. "So where are you, Kate? Where did you go?" Where she was, was just one of his problems. Another was when. Time here meant literally nothing.

What he didn't know was if he going to find Kate dead of old age. He didn't think anyone aged while they were here but he didn't know for certain. Well considering how long he might be here he was going to learn a lot about the Void. Of that he was sure.

Rick looked and started walking. It was as good a direction as any. Since he knew where those two things were located at all times, he knew when he made a turn instead of just keep walking in a straight line.

~{o}~0~{o}~

What he was finding out was that being in the Void was boring. Like watching CNN boring. "No, this is even more boring than that." Rick had started talking to himself and didn't notice.

He knew where he had been so he made a turn and went a different direction. He heard nothing, smelled nothing, felt almost nothing. If he wasn't talking to himself he would hear nothing.

He had no idea how long he'd been there since he had nothing to compare it with. Time was irrelevant. He stopped and looked around. He wasn't big on doing nothing. He had to always be doing something no matter what that something was.

"I need a diversion." He needed a break and started walking. It only took a few steps in the direction of the wall of doors that he heard it. Someone was crying. "Kate," he breathed. He suddenly had hope of finding her in all of this nothingness. It had him running; he had only taken a few steps when he saw her. She was lying down all curled up in a fetal position. He dropped to his knees. "Kate!" He spun her and saw that it wasn't her. He did recognize her, though. She was one of the few that had gotten away from him and had lost in the vastness of the Void.

Rick found that she paid no attention to him and wouldn't help herself to stand let alone walk. He lifted her and carried her. He knew just where the wall of doors was located so he began walking.

He was still mildly surprised at just how fast he reached it. Yes, a person could get lost in here trying to get from one place to another. It was just that the distance between the two always seemed to be so small.

Rick put her down and watched her curl back up. She had stopped crying, however. "Your next life is through one of these doors. You need to chose a door to go through," he told her softly. "Just pick a door." He was betting he could help with the rest.

"Please, just pick a door." He noticed that no sooner had he asked her again that all the doors were gone, save for just one. This one, like Tyson's door, was nondescript in the extreme. The only difference was that this door was a soft blue.

Rick tried to open it for her before he picked her up but found that it wouldn't open for him. "Hm, didn't know that." It left him to come up with a different plan.

He lifted her up and used his hand over hers so that her hand would be the only one that touched the doorknob and opened the door.

He had no intention of going through the door himself so that left him wondering what to do about it. Rick stepped up to the door and left an inch between his shoe and the door jam. With great care he bent his legs and placed her on the floor.

He did his best to push all of her through the door and into the space beyond. Since he could see inside he was hoping he would see where she was going. Except he didn't see anything.

Rick took a guess. "Maybe I'm not supposed to since its not my door." It did leave him with a problem, though. How to get the door closed since it opened into the room and not toward him.

He left her and the open door, hoping that she would wake up enough to close the door and start her new life. "Good luck." He turned away and walked off.

"If I can find her, I can find you." Rick had new hope that he could find Kate. "Just where in here are you?"

~{o}~0~{o}~

It occurred to Rick that he hadn't stopped to rest. He was just walking and walking while looking for anything or anyone. He knew the Void was endless and it had literally nothing in it. All this walking and looking was proving to him just how vast it truly was.

Suddenly he knew where he was, though not how he'd gotten here. He had a sudden thought and it gave him hope. Sadly, it was just another dead person that needed to be escorted to the doors. But this person wasn't just any person. "No way!" Rick knew this person even if he had never actually met her.

"Where am I?" she asked, turning, and her eyes land on Rick. "Aren't you? I mean you look like Richard Castle." She didn't begin to understand what was going on. Let alone where she was.

"Hello, Johanna." Rick had always wanted to meet her, he just didn't want to meet her here. Not like this and not while he was desperately searching for her daughter.

"You know me?" Johanna was a little shocked. Richard Castle knew who she was. "Where are we?" She saw nothing but him.

"I know a lot about you actually. Walk with me." It was his job to get her to the doors and this was one person he wasn't going to lose.

Johanna asked her question again since he hadn't answered it. "Where are we?"

"This is the Void. It's the space between where you were and where you need to go. It's my job to make sure you make it safely and not get lost."

"Between…" She wasn't sure she understood then suddenly she had a stabbing pain and it hurt, it hurt a lot. She stumbled and Rick was quickly at her side to hold her.

"The pain will pass." He knew it would be gone soon.

"I was stabbed!" Johanna could feel the pain.

"Try not to think about it." Rick knew the pain would pass if she didn't think about it or focus on reliving it.

"I thought you were a writer?" What was he doing here? Wherever here was.

"I am. I just happen to have a second job." Rick helped her to stand.

They hadn't made it far, maybe a couple of steps when she said, "I'm dead, aren't I?" Johanna thought she had worked it all out. "And you're Death."

Rick smiled; he got that a lot. "No, Death is a different fellow. I'm just a guide, and we're here." He saw the wall of doors.

"WOW!" Johanna had never seen anything like it. Everywhere she looked she saw nothing but doors. How there were doors below here confused her a bit.

"Choose a door," he told her.

"Why?" What were all the doors for?

"Each door will lead you to a different place. Take you to your next stage in life," Rick informed her.

"Like the Pearly Gates or Hell?" Johanna asked and saw him nod his head. "Will one take me back to my family?" Did she have to stay dead?

"Until recently I would have said no." The door Kate had chosen had told him that going back was possible. For a moment he entertained the idea of getting her to pick the door Kate had. It was just that that door was Kate's, not hers.

"So it's possible." Johanna grabbed hold of that hope and held on with both hands.

"It is possible. Chose a door." He didn't want to talk about Kate. He was sure that Johanna would get it out of him that she was lost in the Void. Being the mother Kate had talked about he was sure she would leave him and go out into the Void to look for her. It would just get her lost.

"I see you've made your choice." Rick saw just one door. Johanna took her eyes off him, looking for herself. Sure enough she saw just one door. It was a solid wood door that had a small window up high. The doorknob was more a handle than anything else. He thought it suited her. "Your next life is through this door." Rick motioned to the door and willed for her to go through.

"What about Katie and Jim?" She couldn't just leave them.

"I'm sure they'll miss you. Miss you a lot. But this is about you. Go through the door, Johanna." He needed to get this over with before she asked too many questions.

"And if I don't?" She wasn't that willing to go through the door.

"There's literally nothing in the Void. Nothing. If you don't go through the door, you'll be lost in the Void…forever," Rick cautioned.

"So this Void isn't Heaven or Hell or Limbo?"

Rick shook his head. "Each of those is a place. The Void is no place. Not a place you want to spend time in. Or until time itself comes to an end." He couldn't let her stay here.

Johanna thought that sounded terrible so she reached for the door. "Do you know what's on the other side?" He seemed to know a lot.

Rick shook his head. "It could be anything, but you'll be alive again. Have a life to live. This one is over, the next one is waiting for you."

Johanna opened the door and looked at Rick. "If you see Katie or Jim, tell them that I love them. I'll always love them."

"I promise." Rick meant it with all of his heart.

Johanna accepted his promise and stepped through the door. Rick watched it close and the door vanished. "I just need to find her." So he could keep that promise.

~{o}~0~{o}~

"CASTLE!" Rick heard her voice and turned to see her running right for him. He ran so that they could meet in the middle. Kate crashed into him and wrapped her arms around him like he wrapped his around her.

"I'm so sorry, Castle. So very sorry." She had done absolutely everything wrong.

"I've got you now, Kate. I've got you." He held onto her and heard her start to cry. This time he wasn't going to let go of her. Kate just held him and cried and Rick was more than happy to let her cry herself out. He was just happy that he had found her.

She had calmed down and still Rick said nothing. "I screwed up, Castle, and I'm sorry." She'd had what to her was a lot of time to think about everything she had done and why.

"I love you, Castle. I love you so very much." Kate buried her head in his chest and just held onto him.

"I love you too, Kate, and this time I'm not letting go. …But we do need to talk." Neither of them were getting out of it this time. Rick could feel her nodding her head.

"What do you remember?" Rick started there.

Kate finally told him the truth. "Everything. I was confused at first. I couldn't believe that you would love someone like me. I needed time to come to terms with that. Then there was what came after." She really couldn't handle that. She didn't have an explanation for any of it.

"ME?" Rick didn't understand that. "I'm just a writer that people like to read. You're the homicide detective. You're the one that chases down killers. I don't understand why you don't see what I do." She was so much more than him.

"I actually died, didn't I?" Kate had finally come to terms with that.

"Yeah. I saw something flash and guessed that it was someone about to take a shot at you. I tried to reach you, but I was too late." Rick just had to apologize to her for letting her get shot.

"And this is after you die?" Kate had worked out that part too. "There was a door." Kate looked up at him but refused to let go of him.

"My job is to make sure people make it to their door after they die and not get lost in the Void. The place you ran into." Rick felt her squeeze him a little tighter. "There's nothing out there, Kate, nothing but nothing."

She squeezed her eyes closed as she remembered the total nothingness that she had encountered. It was just another of her many mistakes.

"What do we do now, Castle? …I'm dead again, aren't I?" It was what had scared her most. She'd died again and found that everything she had thought was just a dream had been real. She had lost him and it had scared her badly.

This time Rick squeezed her a little tighter. "We'll think of something." He had done this enough times; he had to know something.

"But I'm dead and you're not." It was one thing that Kate had worked out while being lost in the Void.

"You love me?" He felt her nod her head.

"Yes, so much that it scares me. But it's too late now." It was over.

"You trust me?"

"With my life." Which Kate found funny since she was dead.

"You believe me when I tell you that I love you?" Rick was full of questions. They were going to talk this time.

Kate squeezed him tighter knowing that she couldn't lose him. "Yes."

"What happened with Josh?" Was there still a problem between them?

She shook her head. "We broke up before I even left the hospital."

"You know I'm never letting go of you again because I love you." Rick couldn't live without her and didn't want to.

"Please don't ever stop, Castle. Don't ever stop." Kate was sure she was going to screw up again. It seemed it was just something she did.

"I have an idea but you're not going to like it." Rick thought it was the only option they both had and she was going to hate it.

Kate didn't like the way that sounded but wanted to know what it was. "What's your plan." She would listen before she shot it down.

"The wall of doors is just over there." Rick nodded his head in that direction since he knew exactly where it was. "We agree on the same door and go through it to our next life."

That had Kate lifting her head to look up at him. He wasn't serious, was he? "But you're not dead. You have a family to go home to. What about Alexis and your mother?" Kate hated this idea.

"What about your father?" Rick countered.

"I'm the one that's dead, Castle." His argument had a hole in it as far as she was concerned.

"Alexis and Mother will be fine. I've left them both everything. Alexis has more than enough money to go to any college of her choice and then some. I've lost you too many times already. I'm not losing you again." It was this or they both stay in the Void forever.

"There has to be something else. Can't you just take me back the way I got here?" Kate pleaded.

Rick shook his head. "Death sent you here, not me. I'm simply here to make sure you don't get lost. And before you even think it, I have no idea who Death is. I've never met him." He had no way to ask Death to undo what he had done.

Kate collapsed against Rick. She was out of ideas. "How did I get back last time? Didn't I go through a door? We can use that door."

Rick thought it through. "Maybe, but that was your door. Not our door." It was the only thing he could see as a potential problem.

"We can make it your door." Kate wasn't giving up.

~{o}~0~{o}~

They were both soon standing in front of a wall of doors. "How do we do this?" She knew what she had done last time but what did they do now?

"I don't know, Kate, I've never done this. Pick a door while I pick a door."

"I don't remember actually picking a door last time." She shrugged. "Suddenly there was only one door."

"Well, it looks like it worked," Rick mentioned since the wall was gone and only one door remained.

Kate looked at it. "I don't remember that door. Is that the same one?" Had it worked or had she simply selected a different door? Not that she remembered actually choosing one this time, either.

Rick shook his head. This door was definitely different. "Have you ever seen a door like it?" he inquired since her answer might help.

Kate simply shook her head. "You?"

Rick let out a breath. "It looks like a cheap Polynesian hotel door." That was what he saw and after he said that, Kate silently agreed. It looked to be made out of nothing but bamboo poles. It didn't even have a real doorknob. It just had this cheap-looking handle. No place to put one of those key cards to unlock the door.

"Now what?" Kate asked as she moved in closer to him and wrapped her arms around him again; she could feel his around her.

"Whatever we do we do together." It was the best Rick could come up with.

~0~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~0~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~0~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~0~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~{o}~ ~0~

Alexis remained behind and just looked down. Martha had said she would wait in the car. Everyone else, and it had been a lot of people, was gone.

She couldn't believe it. Her mother had promised to be here and yet she hadn't shown up. "This was your last chance, Mother." Alexis wasn't going to put up with her ever again.

Martha had the flag and Alexis had one last rose. "I hope you found her, Dad. I hope it was worth it." Alexis dropped her rose into the hole in the ground. "I love you, Dad." She had used up a lot of tears lately and wasn't surprised that she didn't have any left.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Castle." A voice took her out of her mind and her pain to look at who it was.

"The funeral is over." Alexis had never seen him before. He was tall, dressed very nicely in a nice dark suit. He wasn't handsome to any degree however he wasn't ugly either. He was also bald and maybe a little thin.

"I'm aware, Ms. Castle. I have an offer for you that might interest you."

Alexis shook her head. "I'm not interested." She didn't want a job. She didn't need a job and with the amount of money her dad had left her, she might not ever have to work. She did have plans for college, however.

"I believe you'll be interested in this offer," he said smoothly. And while Alexis wanted to shoot him down again, she gave him an option.

"If you can leave your card, I'll think about listening," Alexis offered instead.

"I'm afraid I don't use cards and I want to offer you the job your father had. I want you to take his place. I think you might be a good fit." In his observations, they both thought a lot alike and only wanted to help people.

Her dad was a writer and Gina at least had attended, unlike her own mother. "His job?" Alexis didn't get it until she had an idea. "Are you talking about the Void?" It was the only other job she knew of that her dad had. She watched him simply smile back at her.

She had a condition. "Only if you tell me what happened to my dad and Kate annually for as long as we all live."

"As a matter of fact I will. Do we have a deal?" He saw Alexis start to smile at him. He was happy that he was right. Alexis was a perfect choice.


	4. Chapter 4

**Lost - 1**

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 _To understand this story fully you will need to read my_ _s_ _tory_ _ **Dead**_ _, first. While it_ _'_ _s possible for you to follow along without a lot of trouble_ _, i_ _t will help greatly if you read that story first. It will lay the groundwork for this story._

 _I will warn you when the story strays into the_ _ **M**_ _range and allow you to skip that area if you prefer not to read that type of story._

~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~

Rick and Kate didn't actually see a door as they stepped out into bright sunshine. They found themselves standing in sand looking out onto a large body of water. Large enough that all they saw was water. "Definitely not New York," he murmured. Kate nodded in agreement.

She held his hand tight. She didn't plan on letting go of him just yet. Then she turned her head to look behind them. Where they were standing was just in front of a bunch of driftwood. Further on was green and brown grass and beyond that were trees in the distance, plants and thick brush. "No door," Kate commented which had Rick turning to see for himself. That loosened her hold on him a little as he looked behind them.

"Not exactly what I was expecting." He'd thought that there would be a door on each end.

"Now what?" Kate looked up and down the beach and all she saw was more driftwood, green and dried up grasses and more trees in the distance. There was lots and lots of sand before the beach turned out of sight.

"That way," Rick pointed, taking her hand and striding off.

"Why this way?" Kate didn't see anything that made this way better than the other.

"Because that, my dear Kate, is a tidal inlet. They're breaks in barrier island systems that allow water, nutrients, organisms, ships, and people easy access and exchange between the high-energy ocean and the low-energy back-barrier environment consisting of bays, lagoons, tidal marshes, and creeks. Most tidal inlets are within barrier island systems but others may separate barrier islands from rocky or glacial headlands. Tidal inlets are extremely important for navigation between sheltered ports on the back-barrier bays and the open ocean: thus they are the sites of many coastal modifications such as jetties, breakwaters and dredged channels to keep the channels stable and open." Rick was pretty sure it was more than she wanted to know.

Kate was smiling widely while they walked. "And how do you know all that?"

"Because that's why the house in the Hamptons is on the bay side and not the ocean side." Rick thought it was obvious. "Plus if this place is inhabited there may be work in the area."

Kate made it simple. "People."

He carried it further. "Food, water, and shelter." The three things they needed most right now. Or they needed to know so that they could make plans.

Kate walked with him and kept a hold of his hand as they went inland. Except this inlet didn't go very far. She stopped next to him and looked at what they could see. She didn't see much. "There are no buildings and no roads."

"It looks like this is a land barrier and this is a lagoon. That's either the mainland or an island." Rick pointed to the trees in the distance.

"Well, we don't have a boat and I don't see any planes." Kate lifted her head and raised her hand to block the sun so she could look everywhere.

"Depending on where we are, all we're going to see are contrails of jets thousands of feet up." Rick didn't have any hope of seeing a plane. At least not one that would see them so that they could be rescued.

"So what's first?" Kate asked.

"We make decisions based on the belief that we're all alone. We need shelter, fresh water, and food. To do that we explore."

Kate pointed further inland. "Trees are that way. Not that we have a saw."

"Fresh water and wildlife will be that way, too. Unless you want to try fishing," Rick smiled.

"No pole, either." Kate didn't think they would be fishing anytime soon. "But I **am** glad you're here." She hugged him and kissed his shirt-clad chest.

"I don't want to be anywhere else." Rick wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head.

"We need to get around this lagoon first. I'd like to keep our clothes clean for as long as possible, so watch where you're going. And these are the only shoes we have; be careful of where you step," he cautioned and looked each way before moving out.

Kate kept hold of his hand since she didn't want to be separated from him. However, she wasn't thinking of shoes. She was thinking of tampons. What with everything that had happened she didn't know when her period was going to show itself. But she didn't have anything for when it did.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Rick had found them a place. To be honest she kind of liked it. There was a small stream close by. They'd actually tried the water and decided that it was drinkable. Not that they really had a choice. There was still a fair amount of sand in the area.

Kate had seen a place she liked for them to stay if they had to. They hadn't been looking long so there was still a lot to see. Rick had shot her down, though. It was too rocky as far as he was concerned.

Actually that was why she liked it. She was pretty sure the sand had bugs and she didn't want to be eaten alive during the night. In the end she relented when Rick said he could build something on stilts. It put her above all the sand so she had agreed.

Kate called out to him as he walked around the area they had selected to build on. "What am I doing this for?"

"It's rope, Kate. We're going to need lots and lots of it," Rick answered as he took a rock and pounded a small branch into the sand to mark the spot.

Kate looked at what she was doing again. Lifting up what she had finished, she could see it now. She was braiding strips of plants into rope. She just had to braid sections together to get longer and longer lengths.

"Where are you going?" It looked like he was leaving and she was leery about being alone.

"To look for some tools. We need a hammer and a saw amongst other things. And yes, I know I'm not just going to find one. But we can make one. We just need the right items. Keep braiding, please." They needed a lot of rope to do what Rick was thinking of building.

A while later Kate saw him come back and drop a bunch of stuff only to leave again. When he came back and dropped more items it looked like he was leaving again. "Where are you going now?" He had what he needed, didn't he?

"To look for something to hold water. Maybe I'll get lucky and find us something to eat. We're going to need firewood soon, too." Rick knew they had a lot to do before it got dark.

"Firewood." That sounded like a terrific idea. Kate laid down her braiding and went in search of firewood.

She had a nice pile and Rick wasn't back yet so she started gathering rocks for a fire pit.

Kate watched Rick drag in a pair of what to her looked like tree stumps. She liked them for the fire pit. "I got a lot of wood for the fire but we can use those." Kate was happy.

He shook his head. "These aren't for the fire. Though we **are** going to use fire on them. We're going to slowly burn out the middle and turn them into water containers. We can make others later."

"OH!" Kate thought about it. "Burnt water?"

"The fire will burn away anything in the container that might make us sick," Rick explained.

"OH!" Now Kate loved the idea. Not getting sick out here was a good idea.

She went back to braiding as she watched Rick put his tools together. He'd even come over and taken some of her rope.

"That does sort of looks like a hammer." Kate tilted her head to look at him sideways.

"Now I just need either a saw or an axe. But that might have to wait until tomorrow." Rick had an idea that they would need something before that. "It doesn't look like it's going to rain so we can risk not having shelter, but we're going to need to make beds." Something that would keep the night critters off of them.

"How about food?" What were they going to eat?

"Well there are some plants we can test. I managed to set a couple of traps while I was out so we can hope to get something for tomorrow. I've even got a plan for us to go spear fishing back in the lagoon."

"Spear fishing?" Not pole fishing? "Okay." She was dubious about that but she was willing to give it a try.

~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~

Kate had forgotten to keep track of how long they had been here. However they hadn't seen any smoke from fires except their own and Kate counted that they even had a fire as a small miracle.

Rick had found a few things in his pockets yet Kate had next to nothing. Regardless, he'd taken all of it from her.

She was still making rope even though she had made she didn't know how many feet of it. She could hear him pounding behind her. He was pounding what he called pilings down into the sand. He had made the hammer of all hammers to do it. She smiled at just how ingenious he was.

He claimed he knew all of this while doing research for Derek Storm. She didn't care how he knew, just that he was good at it.

Suddenly she noticed that the pounding had stopped and it had her turning to look for him. Kate called for him since she didn't see him. She hated being needy but she really needed to know that he hadn't abandoned her.

"Just going to go check my traps. Make sure the fire doesn't go out, will you?" Rick yelled from she didn't know where.

Kate was up and throwing another log on the fire just to be sure. She had to admit that a lot of his ideas were working for them. His traps were a little hit and mostly miss. But his spear fishing idea had worked out pretty well. She was even developing a good eye at spotting a fish and throwing her spear at it.

"Lucky shot!" Rick hadn't gotten the touch so far. Kate had simply smiled. When they decided on fish she went alone now.

Kate silently hoped that he came back with something. Some meat sounded nice tonight. However, right now it was time to wash clothes. No matter how hard they worked at it. The bugs got to them and into their clothes.

It also gave her a chance to collect moss to add to her collection that included some of the dried grass off the beach. Her period hadn't started yet, but she was betting it would soon.

It was while she was thinking of that that a thought occurred to her. If her period was going to come soon then it was a good time to have sex with Castle. She didn't know if it was on purpose or because of circumstances, but they hadn't tried to have sex yet.

They had at least kissed a lot. Mostly at night while they hugged each other and talked about where they thought they were.

Rick had added a thought to her questions. He wondered if it wasn't just where but when. "The doors could take a person anywhere Kate. Backward or forward in time is not impossible."

That had Kate thinking about the possibility of being in the past. It helped explain why they hadn't seen any signs of another living soul. No boats, no jets.

Rick hadn't intended on getting back so late, he really hadn't. Although he was hoping that Kate would forgive him when she saw what he was dragging behind him. He had started out carrying it, but after a while even this little weight was getting to him.

"I need to get in better shape," he huffed. Yes, he had a few more pilings to put into the ground and then came cutting down trees so he could make a floor, walls, roof. Just dragging this guy behind him told him just how much work that was going to be. He started questioning if he had created too grand of a plan. Then he came to the edge of their encampment and saw her. She had obviously gotten tired of waiting for him so she was bending into the fire to look at her fish.

It wasn't just this action alone that caught his interest. It was the fact that she was totally naked and bathed by the light of the fire that had his interest. Kate wasn't naked often. Only when they bathed downstream a little from here or when they did laundry. Even when they went to sleep, she'd kept her bra and panties on while he wore his boxers.

She was gorgeous. He had seen pretty much everything when he rescued her from her blown up apartment. Yeah, he'd lied but he was betting Kate already knew that. Just one more event that could have or should have brought them together that they allowed to pass by them.

So much wasted time. Rick resolved himself. Tonight he was going to show her just how much he truly loved her. Beyond just being here, wherever here was, together.

He watched her spin and hold her cooking utensil like a weapon in case she needed one, until she saw him and visibly relaxed. "It's about time!" Yep, she was mad at him. "What are you dragging?" Her tone softened in an instant.

"I got lucky. I was thinking that with working together a little to speed things up, we could have bacon in the morning and maybe put his ass over the fire and let the smoke cook it. Maybe even hang some of it to make jerky." Rick was proud of himself.

"BACON!" There was only one way to make bacon She rushed over to meet him and help him. "You killed a pig!" Kate couldn't help herself; she pressed up against him and kissed him for all she was worth.

Problem was this action caused an equal and opposite reaction. Rick got an instant erection and Kate could feel it. And while she was more than willing to have sex right here and now, they had a dead pig to deal with first.

"You're amazing. Let me help." She grabbed one of his poles and started pulling.

They had a gutted pig next to a second fire pit that they'd hastily made just for this. They didn't want to make a mess of their camp that they lived in. It gave Rick an idea of making a more permanent structure so that they could do this more often.

"He's kind of small." Kate was thinking maybe even just a baby.

"You should have seen his mom and dad." Rick spread his arms wide. "I don't think he's a domestic pig so if I'm careful I might get a big one next time, with a little planning." He wasn't going to risk hunting a wild pig without a plan.

Kate was just happy with this little guy, though now that Rick had talked about how big mom and dad were, maybe he wasn't as baby as she was thinking. "I wish we had some real knives." Kate got back to work using what Rick had created.

"At least we don't live in a cave." Rick saw the humor in his caveman joke and since Kate was laughing, so did she.

They were both tired but not hungry since they had eaten Kate's fish while working. Now they had pig pieces hanging high up in the trees all over the place. "Not how I saw all my hard work being used. But I'm glad we have it." They'd used up every last inch of her rope. She saw the logic of hanging everything away from any night predators looking for an easy meal.

"We can pick one and have breakfast in the morning." Rick grinned at her then left for the bathing area. He was a mess.

Kate had already taken a bath and then cleaned her clothes, but now she felt a little grimy herself after working on that pig.

~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~

 **This section is rated "M" for a reason. Reader discretion is advised.**

~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~

Kate was using what they had to wash Rick's back as he stood there and washed his chest. She couldn't resist and started washing his ass while sitting on her feet. "Turn around, babe."

Rick did as he was asked and Kate was greeted by his erection right in front of her. She handed him her wash cloth and wrapped both hands around his cock. She had always wondered just what size he was, especially after that _White Whale_ comment years ago. She had thought it was because he was white and that he was rich. Maybe that was part of it and maybe it was because of this. She placed the head of his cock in her mouth and washed it with her tongue, enjoying the sound or Rick moaning softly. She cupped his balls and ran her tongue up and down the sides of his hard cock. "Kate!" Rick was warning her that if she didn't slow down she was going to get a surprise.

Kate took the warning and stood up and kissed him. "Fuck me, Rick. I want to feel you inside me." She wanted that big bad boy inside her. Rick, however, wanted to make sure she was ready so he kissed his way down her body, lingering at her breasts. Kate loved the feel of his tongue and when he nibbled on her nipples.

Then she actually helped push his head lower as Rick knelt down in the water. Kate spread her legs wide and was rewarded with feeling him to start licking her outer lips. "OH GOD!" She grabbed handfuls of his hair and held his head in place. Kate felt his tongue push its way inside her. "OH GOD, BABE, FUCK ME!" She meant fuck her with his tongue, but what he did was stand up and place his hands under her ass and lift her up.

She could feel the tip of his cock at her entrance and she leaned down and pressed her face into his neck and bit him. Kate cried out a moment later when Rick let her weight force all of his cock into her pussy.

It had Kate crying out at being filled so fully so suddenly. God, but he was big.

She nibbled on his ear. "Fuck me, babe, please." She used her muscles to lift herself up a little before letting herself drop while feeling Rick lift her with his hands on her ass as she wrapped her legs around him.

"OH GOD, BABE!" He was big and he had somehow already found a spot inside her. Kate moaned into his ear and then bit him. The result was that Rick let her fall onto his erection even harder and it had him even deeper inside her than any man had ever been before.

"FUCK ME, BABY, MAKE ME COME!" Kate lifted herself up a little and felt Rick's hands on her ass again before she went back down with all of her weight on his cock. "GOD YES!" she moaned into his ear.

"You're so tight and so wet, Kate." He took the hint that she liked to talk during sex. It was just that he wasn't going to last much longer. He was going to climax soon and his back was starting to hurt. They were standing out in the middle of their little stream with her draped all over him and his back was beginning to complain.

"Almost there, babe, don't stop, please don't stop." Kate just need a couple more strokes.

"I'm going to come, Kate, I'm going to COME!" Rick thrust himself inside her as deep as he could and climaxed, his come pulsing deep inside her. Kate screamed before silencing herself by biting his shoulder. She could feel her muscle spasms tighten around his cock.

As Kate calmed down she unwrapped her legs around him and felt his cock slip out from inside her; she stood there with her arms around him. "I love you." She couldn't believe how good it felt to have sex with a man that she truly loved.

Before this sex had just been that…sex. But her heart was involved now and she loved him so much, so very much.


	5. Chapter 5

**Lost - 2**

 _Lost is the continuation of the story that started with "DEAD": This story is going to be told under three different names. Posted under just one name._

Kate was beginning to see Rick's vision. It was in his head but when he'd tried to tell her about it, she just didn't get it. Now, though? Now she could almost see it. She was also smiling broadly as she watched Rick work.

He was getting more and more toned from all the work. He was starting to sport muscles everywhere. She had never really thought of herself as being a muscle woman. However, she couldn't help but smile as she watched him. He had guns for arms. She could see his back muscles and since he was only wearing his boxers, she could see his leg muscles. He wasn't just handsome, he was a hunk and he was hers.

"I love you," Kate murmured. Then before she could stop herself, she yelled, "I LOVE YOU!" at him. It was enough to cause him to stop for a moment and wave at her. She placed her hands at her mouth as she felt the tears start. She loved him and was no longer afraid of it.

The pig was long gone. They didn't have a freezer or even a refrigerator to keep it from spoiling so they had eaten pork morning, noon, and night for days. Suddenly Kate had an idea. She was going to create a meal for the two of them. A celebration that showed she loved him. "I'M GOING FISHING!" Kate yelled. He waved back at her, showing that he'd heard her.

Kate lingered, taking a look at what he was building for them. She understood the need for the pilings, they elevated the floor up off the sand. Then she'd watched him chop down a number of really thin trees and he had labored long and hard to get one side flat. The bottom was still round.

He had told her that now came the hard part. Kate had looked at him like he had lost his mind. To her way of thinking all of it looked hard. She had, of course, helped him when he needed help. Some things just took two people.

Then he had explained. "Do you see any nails?" That was when Kate understood what he was talking about. It had left her wondering how he was going to solve that problem.

~[o]~+~[o]~

A few days later Kate was positively elated. She was standing in the lagoon, throwing her spear, and getting a fish every time. "Three should be enough. …Or maybe four." She had noticed that Rick ate pretty fast lately and was chalking it up to all the work he was putting in.

It was just that it seemed like he had stopped working lately so maybe three? Kate threw it a fourth time and then left. She already had everything for another feast. The last one had ended in sex and she saw no reason why this one couldn't either. She just hoped this one ended a little better.

Kate was still reliving the last time in her mind as she walked.

She was on top when she screamed out her climax and squeezed her muscles to hold his cock in place. Then she collapsed onto him. "I love you," she confessed yet again.

Then it happened. Rick never had a chance to say it back. "OH MY GOD! I'm so sorry." It was too late and Kate didn't know how to stop it. Rick felt a liquid and started to ask what it was when he pulled his hand back. It came back red. "OH, GOD!" Kate began to scramble to get off of him, completely mortified. He wrapped his arms around her. "Castle, let go." She struggled to get up again.

It was only later that Kate was laughing as Rick washed the both of them clean. "At least now we know when your period is. We can count days for the next one." She couldn't believe it. She was the one freaking out and not Rick. He truly was one of a kind and he was hers.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Kate was finished so she went to go get him, smiling the entire way. "What are you doing? You haven't worked on the cabin for days." She looked around and all she saw was a pile of fat toothpicks about a half inch in diameter. He was even working on one as she spoke.

"Well, we don't have nails to build with. So I'm doing what they did in the olden days to build with. They used pegs instead of nails." Rick looked up at her and chuckled. "It's a tried and true method. It's perfectly safe. Besides, while I work on all these pegs I can use the time to figure out how I'm going to create the holes in the logs to pound the pegs into." He hadn't come up with much yet.

Now Kate saw a problem. They didn't have electricity, so no drill. They didn't even have any metal to work with. What little metal they did have consisted of Rick's belt buckle, her ring, and earrings. In all it didn't amount to much.

"We can brainstorm while we eat. Come on, I've spent half the day preparing this feast." Kate reached her hand out to him.

Rick looked up again and this time he saw her, all of her. Thanks to the few clothes they did have, they each had reduced that they wore to the bare minimum. At first it had caused a little sunburn, but they'd gotten past that. They were both still a little red, especially Kate's breasts. She had reduced what she wore to just panties and her shoes.

~[o]~+~[o]~

They were both stuffed and Kate was happy but she had a question. "Castle, are you thinking too grand? Do we really need something so…generous? Maybe if you told me more about what's in that brain of yours, I could help."

"Okay, come with me." Rick offered his hand, took her out to the sandy area, and grabbed a small stick.

He started drawing and Kate was getting more and more concerned as he drew. "These are the posts and these are the girts. They connect the posts together horizontally to help form the outside walls. These are knee braces. They provide stability between the posts and girts.

"This is the eave plate. It runs where the wall and the roof meet. These are the purlins. They run the length of the roof and provide something for the roof to be attached to. And last are the rafters. They provide more stability to the roof and give me something to attach the roof to as well as the purlins. More rafters means I need shorter purlins. Does this help?"

"Castle, it's too big, we don't need that much space." It was just the two of them. What he was drawing looked like it had a second floor, if not a third. "Plus how do you plan on getting all of that up there?" It was too high.

He tried to explain her fears away. "That's been taken care of. I've already built the pulleys and you've made the rope." Even Kate knew what a pulley could do. One person could lift several hundred pounds like it was a fraction of that weight.

"Plus some of it's going to have a basket filled with rocks to help." Rick thought he'd thought this through. He smiled at her. "It'll be great, you'll see. Now how do we make holes in poles with no electricity?"

Kate was ready to hit him. He was only now telling her what he'd planned and only because she had asked him. And he was asking her about a construction technique that she had little to no knowledge about.

"What did Derek Storm do?" Kate asked and laughed at the face he made.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Kate was back to making rope since Castle had underestimated the amount he would need. At first she was braiding with anger in each twist. Though the more she twisted, the more she thought about this mansion he was planning.

"Castle. CASTLE!" He looked up from burning holes in a log. "We don't have any furniture for this mansion of yours." It was bigger than they needed and it was going to be empty.

"For now." Rick went back to burning holes. He had a few more before he could start putting together his first wall and lifting it into place.

"For now." Kate shook her head. He had lost his mind. Still everything had gone well so far. If you could count living with nothing in the middle of nowhere while wearing almost nothing because they had **nothing**. "I love him, I love him, I love him," Kate muttered to herself as she went back to braiding, fuming.

~[o]~+~[o]~

They were huddled together under their tiny shelter that together, they'd built for emergencies. "When is it going to stop raining? It's putting our fire out." Kate waved her hand at what was left of their fire. "Ahhh!" She was naked already so she ran out into the rain to get another piece of wood from under what little cover they had and dropped it on the fire before running back.

She shook her head like a dog. "HEY!" Rick held up his hands to keep from getting wet. She just laughed at him.

"So does all this rain help us tell us where we're located, if not when?" Kate settled down to watch the fire in the rain.

Rick tried to think it through. "Well it's a temperate rain. It's rained solid for the last two days, so it's not just a random storm blowing through. It doesn't feel strong enough to be a hurricane. Not enough wind." He pointed at the trees that were barely moving.

Kate gave him that one and she had to admit that the rain was a little warm. "Not worried about your mansion?"

"I've got two walls up, so one helps support the other. The stream is far enough away and besides both walls are sitting on pilings. So if it overflows it's no big deal." He wasn't worried.

"I have to admit that I'm impressed with how you got the floor to be flat to put both walls on." She had watched him use a bone to scrape each tree flat, then burn holes in each end, and pound the pegs in. She had also listened to him swear a lot as he pounded each peg into each hole.

"So what's next for your mansion?" Kate was interested.

"Two more walls followed by rafters and then the purlins." Rick thought it was obvious.

"Okay – how can I help, besides making rope, helping you cut down trees, and dragging them home?" She hadn't been idle. She had also helped him pull her rope to lift up each wall.

"We need a roof. I was thinking a thatch roof. Do you know what those are?" He was thinking it would be easier to make and put in place than trying to make more logs with flat sides. Plus he didn't know what to put on that kind of roof. They didn't have shingles and he didn't want to make a thousand wood shingles. Nor did he know how he was going to get them to stay in place without nails.

"YES…no." Kate shrank back, fearing that she was worthless in the design phase of their house.

Rick simply smiled. "We need a whole lot of dried reeds. I'm sure we can find all we need from the barrier between us and the ocean. We need to make sure that the reeds are dried. We gather them into bundles about 8 inches in diameter and then twist the tops twice to hold them together until we can put them in place. It would be best if we used wire to hold them together and to keep them in place."

"But all we have is rope. We're going to need a lot more rope, aren't we?" Kate tried to use her hands to judge the size of an 8-inch bundle. "We're going to need a lot more rope." Kate was ready to collapse and looked at her hands that were already chapped and had tiny cuts on them from all the braiding.

Rick held out his hands to show she wasn't the only one suffering. "OH, CASTLE!" His hands looked a lot worse than hers did. She kicked herself for not noticing earlier, like all the times that they made love. Why hadn't she felt how rough his hands were?

~[o]~+~[o]~

Kate stood next to Castle and beamed with pride. It had taken what felt like forever but there it stood. Four well constructed log walls, rafters, and purlins. "What about windows?"

Rick shrugged. "No glass."

Kate wasn't giving up. "What about shutters?" They needed something or they would be living in the dark.

He raised an eyebrow. "Hinges?" They had no metal and he had no way to cast it if they did.

"You'll think of something." Kate lifted up to kiss his cheek. "So what's next?" What did she need to help him collect? She already had an enormous pile of dried reeds that got wet every time it rained. She was also still making rope, as her poor hands could attest.

"More trees. We need another floor and trees to make stairs with followed by still more trees to make walls with." Even then he knew they had still more work. He was starting to think Kate was right all along: his plan was just too grand.

"We'll get there, babe, we have to." Kate had a secret. Well, not really a secret; it was mostly guess work at the moment but she was pretty sure. She just didn't know how to tell him.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Kate was lying naked next to Castle and was loving it. Her heart told her this was the perfect place for her. "Any ideas where we are?" Their roaming to find the trees they needed had taken them pretty far afield.

Rick sighed since he wasn't sure if if was a good thing or bad. "Definitely an island. That barrier island turned out to be really small. The palm fronds that you're using to make rope mean it's definitely temperate. The rains tend to suggest east coast, I'm guessing. This place might see the edge of a Hurricane or tropical storm maybe." Rick was using what little they had found.

"We've seen both sides of the island so it must be long and narrow. There's no mountain so that means south though we do have trees and not just palm trees." Rick didn't think he was getting anywhere.

"I have no idea." He fell back and felt Kate kiss him.

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Alexis found herself back in the Void. She started smiling since she knew this was where her dad had spent some of his time. "In secret and he didn't tell me." Alexis briefly lost her smile then it started to creep back into place.

She hadn't told anyone, either, not even Grams. It wasn't that she'd been told not to tell anyone, it was just that it felt like it was secret. Besides, who would believe her? Until she'd been offered the job, she wasn't sure she'd believed her dad when he told her.

She had done a lot while she was on this job. She had escorted an old lady that could barely walk, an old man who was in his own wheelchair. Then there were the babies. Her dad hadn't said anything about those. They looked like they had been just born. She had carried them across the Void, used their tiny hands to open the door for them, and placed them inside. How they had chosen a door after she asked them baffled her to no end. How could a baby begin to understand?

Some had been kids and others had been closer to her age. A few had been totally belligerent and full of themselves. While she had entertained the idea of letting them wander off into the Void, she hadn't. Though she felt bad about thinking it, she hoped their door led to someplace terrible.

"So where is…" Alexis was beginning to wonder where her charge was when she just knew he or she was here. She turned to see who it was. "YOU!"

He bowed a little. "Hello, Ms. Castle. I'm here to fulfill my part of our deal."

"DAD AND KATE!" Alexis began dancing. "Start talking." She was all ears.

Instead a 3D image of them both and their surroundings suddenly appeared between them. It was like a movie since they were moving.

Alexis sucked in a breath and turned around. "They're naked." She took a peek just to make sure. At least Kate was wearing panties and her dad was wearing boxers. They both looked a little tattered but they weren't completely naked.

She turned around and watched. "They're building something!" Alexis started walking around it to get a full view of it. "WOW!" She was impressed. It a floor that was elevated above the sand and walls. There were rafters but no second floor and no real roof. She saw a stream not that far away. Then she saw meat hanging from trees. "What's that?" Alexis pointed at the meat.

"Pig."

"A pig." Alexis thought about it. "Why didn't you bury it, Dad? Make it a luau." She couldn't believe it. Her dad knew better.

The man smiled and leaned forward as if to share a secret. "She's pregnant," he said and vanished.

"PREGNANT! How long has it been?" Alexis turned to question him only to find him gone and then back around to find the 3D movie gone. "Great!" She threw her arms into the air and let them fall to her side.

"WHERE ARE THEY? THAT WAS PART OF THE DEAL," Alexis yelled into the Void.

An aerial view of an island appeared before her eyes. It looked like a big **L** with the upper portion a little narrow. "What's it called?" She was going to go home and look it up. Read all she could about it. Learn all there was to know about it. From the day it was formed to today.

His voice just sort of drifted into the Void. "Cat Island, Bahamas."

"Cat Island. …Dad hates cats." It had her smiling wide. "And pregnant."

Alexis watched it disappear but she kept smiling. "Maybe it was worth it, Dad."


	6. Chapter 6

**Lost - 3**

 _It has been six months since we last saw our pair_

"You shouldn't be up here," Rick chided. He wasn't comfortable with Kate being up on the roof with him.

"We need a roof, Castle, and I'm not delivering our baby out in the jungle. This is the part I can help with, so I'm helping," she insisted stubbornly. "You should be out getting more trees. We still need to finish the walls." The roof was nowhere near done and the cladding on the outside walls stopped at the second floor.

Unfortunately even the first floor wasn't really done. It was drafty; the logs still needed chinked and sealed. "I can do this. I'm not that big yet." Kate looked down at her obvious belly. She had worked through her morning sickness for the same reason she was up on the roof: it needed to be done. "Move it, Castle." Rick was still up on the roof when he should be out getting more trees.

"I'm going, I'm going." He hated it but he also knew she was right. He didn't want her to deliver the baby out here in all this. The building might be empty for now, but the baby needed a home to grow up in.

It was a little tedious for her. Down the ladder to get more thatch and back up the ladder to tie a handful into place only to do it all over again.

Kate was still on the roof when Rick came back using his travois. She smiled as she remembered Rick telling her it was how the Indians had moved everything in the Wild West.

"Native Americans, Castle, not Indians. Indians are in computer customer service." Kate had done best to hide her smile.

"Har, har, very funny. Just admit that it works." He could drag far more than he could carry and it was speeding things up. Kate was going to do no such thing but at the moment as she watched him unload a load and walk back out, dragging it with him, she had to admit that he was right.

Days later they were both still doing the same thing. Kate was slowing down because she was tired and her hands hurt. Rick looked to be slowing down and he kept pressing his hands into his back. Building this house was taking its toll on them.

"Castle, help me down," Kate called out and started down the ladder. Her feet and leg muscles were also complaining from using the ladder so much. "We need a break. My hands, feet, back, and legs hurt. And I can see that your back hurts, too, so don't try and deny it."

Rick was more than ready to take a break. It was just that there was still so much to be done. "What have you got in mind?" He was willing to listen to her idea.

"BBQ on the beach. We can make a fire pit and cook there. We can make beds and sleep on the beach out under the stars. It hasn't rained in days. …Please? I'll get the fish if you get everything else."

"Technically we would need BBQ sauce to have a BBQ which would make this grilling on an open fire," Rick corrected her and listened to her growl at him. "But I'm in. I'll rub your feet if you do my back."

Kate squealed and reached up to kiss him quickly. "I love you. I'll get the fish while you get everything else. Then we can make our fire pit and something to sleep on." She ran naked, since both of them were naked all the time now, to get her spears. They still had clothes and their shoes. It was just that their clothes and even their shoes were showing wear. Cloth was in very short supply so they were saving it for emergencies.

Kate was watching her fish cook while Rick put their beds together. "It's a pity that we can't have our home out here on the beach." She kind of liked the idea of having an ocean view.

"Too dangerous for us. One good storm and it would wash everything away," Rick replied as he finished the last bed and moved in behind Kate. He wrapped his arms around her and put his hands on her belly.

"I know, but I can dream." Kate had long ago agreed to where they were building. Suddenly she grabbed his hand and moved it. The baby had kicked and she wanted him to feel it.

"He's active tonight." Rick smiled, keeping his hand there even though the baby had stopped for the moment.

" **SHE** is active tonight." It was one of the very few things that they had argued about. "It's a girl, Castle." Kate was sure of it. Plus Castle had already had a daughter so she had history on her side.

"The guy determines the sex, Kate, and it's a boy," he argued.

"And if it **is** a girl?" Was that a problem?

"Then she'll be the most loved girl on this island or anywhere else," Rick assured her and kissed the back of her head. Then he sniffed. "The fish?" That had Kate scrambling to make sure they weren't burnt.

~[o]~+~[o]~

They were lying on their beds, looking up at the stars. Kate finally asked the question that had bugged her for months. "Not sorry you came?"

"Where? With you through the door? Not even a little. I'm right where I'm supposed to be." Rick reached out and placed his hand on her belly.

"Do you think Alexis and my dad are all right?" She hated thinking that Alexis was most likely angry with her and she worried that her dad had started drinking again. Maybe had killed himself this time.

"I have a confession to make." Rick thought now was a good time to tell her.

Kate turned her head to look at him and stopped breathing. She knew it – he did have second thoughts!

"I told Alexis all about the Void and the job I did before I came looking for you after you ran off into the Void. She knows everything I did about the Void."

Hearing that left her speechless. She had her own confession to make, though. "I'm still sorry, Castle. I shouldn't have done that. I didn't think I was worth being loved. I was a mess even before I was shot the first time. I was just trying to save you from me."

Rick rolled over so that he was up against her and could hold her. "You are worth every ounce of love I can give you and even more. Just wait until the baby is born. You'll learn instantly what true love is really like.

"I knew my life was never going to be the same again after Alexis was born. I loved her unconditionally the second I held her. She was the most important thing in my life. This baby will be the same.

"As for your dad, he's stronger than you think. Give him some credit." Rick wasn't worried about Jim. He had learned his lesson already.

~[o]~+~[o]~

"CASTLE!" Kate was shaking him about as hard as she dared. "CASTLE, WAKE UP!"

"Hmf? Wha…?" He groaned then yawned and rolled over. "Go back to sleep, Kate." Rick was dead tired and just wanted to sleep. Suddenly Kate was twisting his ear and it hurt. He sat up and glared at her. "What the hell was that for?" Rick placed a hand over his ear.

Kate just pointed. She stood up and started walking that way. Rick looked where she pointed and was walking toward. "NO WAY!" He didn't believe it. He jumped up and ran, ignoring the pain in his back.

There were barrels and crates scattered all over the beach. Several were still bobbing in the water. "Go back and get all the rope you can find. All of it," he yelled at Kate and didn't look to see if she did what he told her to do. He just knew that they needed to get all of it up far enough onto the beach before the tide went out and took it all away from them.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Rick and Kate were lying on their backs, huffing and puffing. It had been hard work but they had saved everything. She found enough wind to ask a question. "What do you think it is and where did it come from?"

He shrugged. "Shipwreck most likely. Whatever floated made it here. We need to keep our eyes open for more. Even parts of the ship itself would be useful. As for what's in any of it… The barrels are likely liquid or maybe fruit. The crates could be anything, or empty." He didn't want to get his hopes too high.

"We can start with the two crates. The barrels we can roll home." He added a condition. "After I've recovered my strength."

"Yeah." Kate was dead but she started to get up. They could open the crates and she wanted to see what they'd found. Rick groaned. "She's out to kill me." He was beginning to think she really was.

He pointed out a problem. "Nails." Then he began laughing. "Real nails." He was still using pegs and NOW they had nails. He just needed to get them out so that he could reuse them.

~[o]~+~[o]~

They had everything spread out all over the floor of the first floor. Kate was standing there with her hands over her mouth. She let the tears roll down her cheeks as she looked it all over.

Crate #1: Horse tack. It was all leather and some metal. Enough for 18 horses.

Crate #2: Pots and pans for cooking. There was even a metal strainer. It was an entire set of 64 pieces which included lids for most of them. Formal silverware for 12. Rick thought it might be solid silver. It was in an ornate box with velvet interior.

Barrels #1 thru 5: Tea

Barrel #6: Bag after 2 pound bag of rice.

Barrel #7: Bag upon 2 pound bag of flour.

Barrel #8: Bag after 2 pound bag of sugar.

Barrel #9: Jar, after jar, after jar of molasses. There were so many that Kate had given up counting.

Kate felt Rick wrap his arms around her from behind. She kept crying. They had gone from nothing to being rich. "We need to check the beach every morning for the next few weeks. Maybe we'll get a storm that will send us even more." Rick prayed as he looked past Kate at what was all over the floor.

It wasn't just what was in the crates and the barrels. It was also the crates and the barrels themselves. Plus when they emptied a bag they could reuse it for something. "We need to put it back in the barrels. Our walls aren't meant to keep a storm out yet. I don't want to lose it now that we've got it." Kate had been all set to question his sanity, but he was right. If they weren't careful they might lose it. She wiped away her tears, picked up a bag of sugar, and dropped it back in its barrel.

~[o]~+~[o]~

One week later Rick had just finished cooking breakfast when Kate came running into camp. At first he hoped that she'd found more barrels or crates on the beach. But he could see she had something in her hand. She was out of breath as she handed it over. She placed her hands on her knees and bent over, sucking in air.

 _Emigration, United States and British Provinces of North America,_

 _The Boston Packets, The only established line of packets between Liverpool and Boston, sailing every week from Liverpool._

 _Train & Co._

There was a lot of smaller type, however, the sea had washed most of it away and was pretty much illegible. "Packet ships." Rick tried to think as Kate kept sucking in air and staring at him.

"Immigration packet ships from Europe started in the very early 1800s, I think. They packed immigrants down in steerage and charged them an arm and a leg. I think there were cabins that the rich could get for the passage. Probably Irish would be my guess. Are you okay?" Rick noticed that Kate wasn't talking which was a first for her.

"It…was…a…long…run." Kate was still sucking in air. Plus she was pregnant.

"No crates or barrels?" They couldn't have gotten even more lucky, could they? Kate shook her head.

"Well, I've got breakfast ready. Tea, bacon, biscuits, and even some gravy that might not taste all that great. Kind of missing a couple ingredients to make good gravy," Rick grumbled.

She was eating like she hadn't eaten anything in a long time. She was also kissing Rick between each bite. "This is amazing!" Kate loved him for it.

~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~

"Once more – where are you going?" Martha wanted to make sure and for how long she was going to be gone.

Alexis began to explain again. "The Bahamas. I'm going to go see a real estate agent, actually."

"So you're looking to buy something. That sounds nice. Is it a good idea?" Her grandmother didn't want her wasting the money her father had left her. Her own money was substantial, though it had come with some conditions.

Alexis sighed and tried to reassure her. "That's why I'm going there to look at it. If I like it after doing my research, **then** I'll decide. I'll be back in a few days. School doesn't start for another month so I should be good."

"Just be safe, dear. I don't want you to get swallowed up by a hurricane." They were in the news at the moment.

"Those are in the Caribbean, Grams. I'm going to the Bahamas. I'll be fine." She knew Martha was concerned; it was just that she was thinking about the wrong area.

Martha realized her error. "Oh, yes. Perhaps you'll find a nice man while you're there." Martha didn't think she had a boyfriend at the moment. Alexis glared at her. "Well it's possible. Don't discount when or where love might bloom." She didn't want her to blow him off. He might end up being the perfect person.

"Whatever you say, Grams." Alexis doubted it and it wasn't what she was going there for.

She barely made it out the front door when she found herself in the Void. It was the only one and it was over quickly, a lot like the others.

~[o]~+~[o]~

"Alexis Castle?" A young man approached her at the designated place. "I'm Kris Kralaw with Island Hunters. It's a pleasure to see you." He was hoping for a nice commission out of her based on what she had asked about.

She shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"I have a car waiting to take us to the bay where we will travel by sea plane. The island's inhabited but doesn't have air service," Kris explained.

He made small talk in the car. "How was your trip from New York?"

"It was nice. Have you heard anything about the island?" She wanted to know her options.

"I've told them of your interest to purchase the entire island. The number they came back with far exceeds the parameters you sent me. However, they **are** willing to sell the section of land you've asked about."

Alexis had thought that might be the case. While owning the entire island might be nice, she was really only interested in where the house was located.

"I've been assured that the house you asked about is still in place. Though its condition is not very good. They suggested that you raze it and think about rebuilding."

"We'll see." Actually she wanted the house just the way it was, no matter its condition.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Alexis sat next to the pilot while Kris sat in the back. They both wore headphones to kill the noise and heard nothing the entire trip. In fact Alexis had been hoping for an exceptional view on the trip. But she found that right in front of her was a lot of instruments. The only view was out the side window.

She had no idea how he took off or landed since there was nothing to see out the small front windshield that was above the instrument panel. But he pulled them right up to a small dock and tied them into place.

"I've arranged for a Jeep to meet us. The property is still a little ways from here," Kris said and they were soon traveling in a small Jeep that was open air.

They started out on a paved road although that didn't last long.

Alexis soon knew exactly where they were based on the movie she'd been shown.

Kris pointed and led her from the Jeep up a trail straight to the house. "As you can see the house is in sad shape, but it should be stable enough for us to enter and move around. I'm told the water from the stream is no longer safe to drink. It will need to be treated first. Based on what few records I could find, the house was probably built in the very early 1800s. It looks like it was built by hand," Kris told her; Alexis wasn't listening any longer.

Footprints were long gone but she could just picture her dad, Kate, and the kids running around all over. It was easily two stories tall and it was obvious there used to be a thatch roof. Sadly, nothing remained of it except for the foundation framework that had supported the thatch.

What she took for a front door was open, so she stepped up and walked inside. The floor was wood and mostly flat. The walls were all small logs that were laid one on top of the other. The mud that was used to fill in the spaces was mostly still intact.

She even found that some of the furniture on this level was still there. It was all broken, very rustic and basic. Not a single cushion was in sight.

There was an opening in each wall and what she took to be storage in one corner. No kitchen to speak of. Not surprising, since she was betting there was no running water which meant no bathrooms, either.

The main level was all open. The shutters on the windows were either missing or barely hanging on. She spotted something in the storage area. Picking it up, she found that it resembled a doll. It was basic and made of sticks. She loved it and clutched it to her chest. She tucked it carefully into the bag she was carrying. To her thinking that doll meant her dad and Kate had had a girl.

Alexis headed for the stairs. "I would be careful," Kris cautioned. It didn't stop her, though she did go slowly, testing each stair. Once upstairs she found three rooms. Like downstairs the walls were all the same though the mud here was mostly still in place. Even the doors still swung.

The rooms were barren. No beds, no dresser, no mirrors, no books. Oddly, there were a few sacks in each room. She picked up each one and they almost ripped apart by just handling them and looked them over. The lettering was too faded to make out what they said. They all went in her bag as well.

The shutters up here were long gone and she could see that the floor had taken a beating at each window in particular let along the rest of the floor. "Three rooms. Two kids?" Alexis wondered as she looked the space over.

Based on the doll she had found she could almost see a little girl with long brown hair running around driving her dad and Kate crazy. Alexis absentmindedly wiped away a few tears that had escaped.

She found Kris outside patiently waiting. "I'll take it, all of it. As much of the land as they're willing to sell. I don't care what it costs. I want it," Alexis said which had him smiling.

"I need you to take me into town. I need to find someone." Alexis was hoping that there was someone in town that she could hire that would do extensive research on this place. She was hoping for records.

She walked around the place and her heart was bolstered when she didn't find any graves. No markers were located anywhere. Granted they might have been removed or just blown away, but it gave her reason to hope.

"Let's go. Draw up the contract. I'll have the money transferred and sign everything." Alexis wanted it. It was now part of the Castle Estate.


	7. Chapter 7

**Lost - 4**

 _It is now over 6 months later for our pair._

"How is she?" Rick asked as he walked in carrying one of their two diapers.

"Sleeping, thankfully. I love her more than anything but you never told me about not getting any sleep." Rick got up at every noise Lily made but it was her that nursed her. He took care of all the dirty business, too. Yet she still wasn't getting much sleep.

He started laughing lightly. "The joys of being a parent. Wait until she's crawling and then running. You'll feel old and tired all over again." He leaned in and kissed her.

Kate smiled. "What have you been up to?" She knew the house itself was finally done. Rick had converted their shed into a butchering station for when he killed pigs and other animals. They had managed to search a larger portion of the island and had expanded their food sources. Kate had been skeptical, however, now they ate iguana and turtle.

Rick tried again. "I was thinking about expanding our food source with one more item."

"Castle, I told you, I'm not eating snake." She'd already shot his idea down and hadn't changed her mind.

He gave up. "Fine." He still thought it was a mistake but would bow to her wishes. He changed the subject. "How's your garden coming?"

Kate sighed. She didn't think it was going very well. "It's going." It was probably all going to die, but she was trying. "Rick…" She was deeply concerned about something and she didn't know how they were going to handle it.

"We only have 2 diapers because you used up a lot of flour. But what do we feed her when she gets older? We don't have any baby food. I haven't seen carrots or other things. We all need the vitamins that they provide, especially her." Kate truly believed that living where they did was hurting their baby.

Rick smiled widely since he had something to show her. "Come with me." He took her hand and took her outside. "While I was out gathering the last of the trees for the house, I found something that I think you're going to like." He was proud of himself.

Kate sucked in a breath and clapped her hands over her mouth. "What the…? Castle, is that a goat and a… _horse?"_ She couldn't believe it.

"Yep," he grinned. "I was thinking with a little work and some luck, I could capture a few more. We could have goat milk, maybe make goat cheese, or have goat meat. The horses are a little small, especially for me, but not for Lily when she's older." Rick was still smiling widely.

"Wherever did you find them?" Kate had to admit that she hadn't gotten very far from home, unlike Rick.

"South end mostly. If we want more then we're going to have to come up with a plan. There's a whole heard of horses. The goats are a little fewer in number and I don't want to tell you how hard it was to catch this guy." Rick was sure he had gotten lucky.

"Maybe when Lily's sleeping more," Kate said. Then she groaned when the house was suddenly filled with the sound of a baby crying. "Give me that." She snatched the flour bag out of his hand and headed for the stairs. "She's probably just hungry, but just in case."

A moment later he heard, "Castle!" and saw a dirty diaper come flying down the stairs. It was just wet this time so cleaning it was going to be easier than the poopy diaper.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Rick had a clean diaper, so to speak, and was back inside but Kate wasn't downstairs. That told him that his daughter was likely hungry as well as having had a dirty diaper.

He went back over to the door and looked out. "I always wanted to give Alexis a pony. Looks like Lily's going to be first." Rick chuckled at the irony of it all.

"I'm going to start on dinner!" he yelled up the stairs.

"Okay," Kate yelled back.

After that he was going to start work on some furniture. They had a house and it actually did keep out the rain so they didn't have to get wet if they didn't want to. It was just that it was a very empty house. Except for what they had found on the beach that one morning.

~[o]~+~[o]~

 _A_ _nother almost a year has passed for our pair._

"MAMA!" Lily came toddling in through the front door to find Kate doing a little inventory. Granted they still didn't have much but she didn't want them using it up too fast.

Lily slammed into her and wrapped her arms around her legs. "What's up, sweetheart?" Kate ran her hands through her long hair and wished mightily for a brush.

"Da." Lily pointed to the front door. Kate looked and moment later Rick showed up. What she saw had her placing a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. He looked ridiculous.

They didn't have a razor and they didn't have any scissors which meant Rick's beard just kept getting fuller and longer. At the moment he had sticks and leaves poking out of it all over. Kate quickly worked out that Castle was playing a game with her and it hit her directly in her heart. "Castle, you look ridiculous. Take all that stuff out of your hair."

He started pouting, though with all that hair it was hard to tell even for Kate. Rick shook his head and stuff went flying everywhere.

"Go get your game, Lily, and we can play if your dad's done." Kate glared at him. Lily smiled and climbed like a dog up the stairs.

Rick went over to Kate and gave her a quick kiss. She placed a hand on the side of his face. "I liked you better with a close shave. I really wish we had a razor."

"You don't like my beard? And long hair…and my hairy legs and my hairy…" Rick had to stop when Kate clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Stop right there, mister. I just worry that we're both becoming Bigfoot. My hair has never been this long before. My legs are almost as hairy as yours and I don't even want to think about how much pubic hair I have. I'd kill for a Bic razor." Kate let Rick pull her into him and wrap his arms around her.

"Mr. and Mrs. Sasquatch." Rick kissed her head and nibbled on her neck. Kate ducked away, laughing.

"Seriously, Castle, if we don't come up with something Lily and my hair will soon be trailing behind us on the ground." Kate was betting Lily's would be first before hers.

Rick had to admit that all this hair wasn't really his style. "I'll see what I can come up with." But he didn't have a single idea. "Maybe." He suddenly remembered that they had a least a little metal. He just needed a way to sharpen it enough to not cut a limb off.

They were both taken out of their thoughts when Lily came scooting down the stairs on her backside carrying the game Rick had made for her.

~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~

Alexis was sitting in the living room waiting for Martha to come home. They were supposed to go out for dinner tonight, when Alexis got an alert on her phone. She opened her email.

" _I've got a lead on the people that owned the house you_ _inquir_ _ed about. I believe that they left the area in 1836 or there about. My source suggests that they were transported to Nassau._

" _Please see the attached cost request. It will cover travel costs, hotel, rental car_ _,_ _and other expenses. Be advised that I will believe I will be looking for five different people._

"FIVE!" Alexis exclaimed just as Martha came home.

"Five what, dear?" Martha could have heard her out in the hall.

"I got an email. There are five." Her mind raced at the implications. Rick and Kate made two. Alexis suddenly grinned and laughed a little. "Three."

"Make up your mind, dear. Is it three or five? And three or five what?" Martha didn't understand.

Alexis needed to change the subject. "It's not important. Are you ready to go or would you prefer to change?"

"Just give me a chance to freshen up and we can go. It'll be good to see some of Richard's friends and find out how they're doing," Martha commented and went upstairs.

"Yeah it will, Grams," Alexis called out. She hurriedly accessed her bank account and transferred the money he requested. "Three children." She began smiling even wider. "A girl and what?"

~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~

Lily was dancing, bouncing up and down, really, and Kate was smiling broadly as Rick walked into the house carrying what he was calling his masterpiece.

Kate talked through her hands. "How?" It should have been impossible.

Rick was really proud of himself. "Don't question genius." He put it down on their homemade table. Granted he only needed one but they didn't have any.

"How do we ask her to make a wish?" Rick asked, looking at Kate.

"She's one, Castle, just tell her to blow," Kate answered softly.

It didn't make sense to Rick, but… "Make a wish, Lily pad, and then blow. Make it a good wish." Like asking for real candles next time.

They used palm leaves as plates, however, they used silver knife to cut the slices and forks to eat it with. Kate took a bite and wanted to spit it out, but Lily was watching them both.

Rick was only too happy to take a bite. He instantly stopped chewing and looked at Kate who he was betting had the same face he had.

Lily, though, was just one and didn't know any better. Her one bite was spit out. "Uk!" She was done eating her birthday cake.

"Birthday present." Kate distracted her while Rick took the cake away. Kate had tied it all up inside the largest leaf she could find.

"Sint?" Lily didn't understand but it looked important to her.

It didn't take much for Lily to open it. "It's a dolly, sweetheart. I made it for you," Kate said.

Lily was holding what she thought was the greatest thing ever. "Mama!" Lily loved it and went toddling off to go play with it.

"My dad and I made one just like it once." Kate told the empty space where her daughter used to be. "I'm glad you like it, little love." Even though she was gone, it was the fact that she was happy that gave Kate her greatest joy.

"Why is she so happy?" Rick had almost been run down by his own daughter.

"I made her a stick doll out of wood and used a small amount of one of the bags to give it a dress."

"You mean like that stick man you made after your…" Rick stopped talking since he was wading into deep water when it came to Kate.

"It's okay, Castle. I'm past needing to figure out who killed my mother. Besides, if we're right, the person won't even be born for more than a hundred years." She had no choice but to be over it.

"Kate, I have a confession to make." Rick was sure this was going to go badly, but he needed to get it off his chest.

She took a guess. "You can't make a razor? Oh, wait – you're not going to tell me what was in that cake, are you?"

That made him laugh. "Not even close. It has to do with when I was escorting people who had died to find their door so they could move on to their next life."

"Okay, but didn't you do that a lot?" After all, people died everyday. Which had her questioning how Rick had the time to do anything else.

"I did and that's one of the interesting aspects of the job. It seems that time has no meaning when it comes to who comes to the Void to find their door. For example, I once had an older man who died during the Civil War." It was one of the more interesting cases for Rick.

"The Civil War? The 1860s American Civil War?" Kate asked incredulously. Rick nodded.

"But there was one person…" He swallowed hard. "Kate, I…I helped your mom to a door just before I found you after you'd run off into the Void." Rick cringed, sure that she was going to blow up.

She was too quiet so he opened his eyes to look at her. "My mother? You escorted my mother to a door?" Kate couldn't believe it, and he was only just now telling her? Then it hit her. "My mother was in the Void the same time I was and I missed her. Oh, god, I had a chance…" Rick moved fast and wrapped his arms around her as Kate started crying which turned into body-quaking sobs. "My mother." She knew it was just another one of her many mistakes.

"Mama?" Rick turned his head, fearing the worst. He saw Lily who was beginning to cry.

Rick was saved, though. "No sweetheart, Mama's fine." Kate left Rick's arms, went to her daughter, and scooped her up.

He didn't think it helped since now both the women in his life were standing there crying. Yeah, he just knew this was going to end badly.

~[o]~+~[o]~

"How is she?" Rick asked Kate as she walked into their bedroom.

"She's better now. I never would have guessed that her seeing me cry could have such an effect." Kate had never encountered anything like it.

"She loves you just as unconditionally as you do her. You're affected by something so she sympathizes with everything you do. Come here, love." Rick raised his arms to invite her down and into bed.

Kate settled beside him, letting him wrap his arms around her. "You are just as affected by everything that affects her. You want her to be happy and she wants her mama to be happy."

"I don't remember my mother ever having this much trouble. Well, at least not until I was a teenager," Kate admitted with a sigh. "Rick, what did she say? …My mother."

"She made me promise to tell you that she loved you. You and Jim."

"Did she know…?" Kate couldn't ask.

Rick kissed her cheek. "No, she didn't know you were in the Void at the time."

"Not that." Not that that wasn't bad enough. "Did she know who killed her?"

"We didn't discuss it. I'm sorry, I didn't think it mattered anymore."

Kate was ready to hit him for that. Yes, she knew that Coonan had killed her but who had ordered it? "I was dead." She sank down into his arms a little further.

"I'm sorry." Rick felt somewhat bad that he hadn't asked about it. But was his job to help her, not solve who killed her.

She shook her head. "No, it's okay, you're right. I was dead…twice." Kate turned and buried herself into him.

"Rick?" Kate had something to tell him.

"Hmm?" Rick didn't know what to do to make her feel better.

She dropped her bomb. "I think I'm pregnant."

Rick's face lit up and he began beaming though Kate couldn't see it. "Pregnant?" He started kissing her head. "Boy or a girl? Never mind – who cares? Pregnant!" He couldn't be happier if he tried. "I love you." He kissed her. "I love you." He kissed her again. "I love you." Rick kissed her a third time. Kate erupted in laughter and happy tears.

"If you're going to kiss me you can make love to me. I'm already pregnant." She couldn't get more pregnant or pregnant twice at the same time.

~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~

Alexis had a plan for if or even when the time came. It was a little bit of a pain to carry around with her everywhere she went. It was just that she didn't know when it would happen. She had learned that time had no meaning in the Void.

People might have just died or they might have died years ago. What took them so long escaped her but she needed to be ready. She could be in class when she was summoned to the Void. She might be in the bathroom. Which had actually happened once and it had her scrambling. "YOU COULDN'T WAIT?" Alexis had screamed into the Void and then turned to find who her charge was this time.

Still she had a plan. The only real trick was would it work?

"Are you alright, dear?" Martha had noticed that Alexis couldn't seem to find a comfortable position.

"I'm fine, I just need to come up with a different plan." A way to carry it so that it didn't dig into her like it was now.

"How is the food? Do you need any help?" Martha was willing to help.

"I think I've got everything handled except for the dessert. If you want to try that, it would be helpful." Alexis knew her grandmother wasn't the greatest of cooks. In some ways it explained why her dad overdid some things. Or maybe most things.

"I have just the thing. Death by Chocolate." Martha just knew that would make everyone happy.

"Chocolate." Alexis wasn't sure just how much chocolate they still had.

"Not to worry, sweetheart, I'll go shopping and get everything I need." Martha was formulating a list in her head.

~[o]~+~[o]~

"You're amazingly good cook." It was delicious and Jim was thrilled that he didn't have to eat his own cooking.

"Thanks, I had a good teacher." Alexis meant her father.

"I haven't had a good home-cooked meal since I can't remember when." Actually he did but didn't want to dwell on it.

"Time for dessert," Martha announced, leaving the table to get it out of the oven.

"That looks incredible, Martha." Jim liked the look of it and even Alexis had to admit her grandmother had out done herself.

"It's to die for, literally." Martha was proud of herself. "I call it _Death by Chocolate."_

"I take it that baking is one of your specialties." Jim was impressed by the look and the smell of chocolate that permeated the room the second she had opened the oven.

"Not really." Cooking wasn't her strong suit and she knew it.

"Dad teased Grams constantly over her lack of cooking ability." Alexis tried to cut Martha off at the pass before she said something wrong.

"My son wasn't bashful about sharing what he thought of my cooking. He was likely right." For a moment Martha faltered as she remembered her son was dead.

"I'm sorry if I brought up a bad memory." Jim could only guess what these two had been through.

Alexis was quick with a reply. "NO! No, you didn't. We both have people that we miss." She was glad Jim hadn't turned to alcohol to assuage his grief.

"How are you doing, Jim? First your wife and then Katherine." Martha shook her head sadly. She had worried that a drunk was going to show up after Alexis had suggested this idea.

"I'll admit that it's been a challenge. But I've learned from my mistake. I try to find ways to celebrate their lives and not be depressed that they're gone."

"That's a good way to think about it. I'm happy for you. It can be a challenge, sometimes. No parent wants to outlive their child." Martha slipped for a moment before she perked back up and dove into her dessert.

"I'd like to think that Katie and Rick found each other in the next life. I actually wanted Katie to recognize her feelings for him. She was just too stubborn. She took after her mother in that regard." Jim took a bite of his dessert. He was impressed. "This is as good as it looks, Martha."

Alexis so wanted to tell them what she had learned but couldn't. Granted there was nothing in their deal that said she couldn't tell people. Actually she thought of all the people that might believe her it would be these two.

She offered what solace she could. "If there's any justice, they have." Her thoughts turned to **them** and she wondered what her guy was going to find in Nassau. Alexis had done some research on the island they were on but it had found very little thus far. Given the pictures she had of the island, she didn't see her dad and Kate building a boat or raft to risk sailing to another island. Provided that they had any idea just where they were or even when.

Jim lifted his glass, saying, "To Rick, Katie, and Jo," and got Martha and Alexis to clink his glass.

"We need to do this more often," Martha announced.

"If it means a home-cooked meal, count me in," Jim replied quickly. Maybe he still had a family after all. If not, at least good friends.


	8. Chapter 8

**Lost - 5**

 _It has been another year for our pair_

Lily was running around more and she was actually playing one of Rick's new games of late. "How is she? Is she…better?" Kate asked Rick, holding James like he was the most precious thing on the planet.

Her memory lingered on a moment from a few months ago. "NO!" It had been a simple question. Did she want to meet her baby brother? Kate had watched her heart walk out of their room right after delivery.

Rick held up a finger. "Let me handle this," he told her, chasing after his daughter.

He came back alone and Kate's heart was still aching. "We're in the terrible twos. You could have asked her if she wanted to go swimming and the answer would have been no. Actually at this point every answer is going to be no," Rick shrugged.

"So it's not…"

"NO! I mean, yes and no." He knew that wasn't an answer and that he'd said the word no a lot. "She'll come around. We'll work on her. It's just going to take a little time."

"How much time?" Kate didn't want to hear the word no again.

"Well Alexis didn't really have it this bad so I don't know. A year, maybe more." Rick hadn't done much research on the terrible twos. He had counted his lucky stars that Alexis was different and hadn't looked back.

Hearing James crying brought her back to the present. She trudged up the stairs to find out what it was this time. Except when she got there she found Lily down on the floor trying her best to get him to stop crying.

"Him's not stop, Mommy." Lily had failed and she was taking it badly.

"Right now either his diaper is dirty or he's hungry. Do you want to help me, sweetheart?" If she did this was going to be a first. Since Lily didn't leave Kate took that as a yes.

Lily was holding her nose. "Yours were just as bad at this age," Kate told her daughter.

"No." Lily took exception to ever smelling like this.

"Sweetie, you're still wearing diapers. All poopy diapers are going to smell this bad." Kate decided to take a risk. "You know big girls don't use diapers. They use the bathroom outside when they feel the need." Was Kate going to get that lucky?

Lily was conflicted. Using her diaper was easy and her mommy and daddy cleaned her up each time. But she wanted to be a big girl. "Here, hold this for me." Kate handed her the cord that they were using to hold his diaper in place. Much like the one Lily was using now.

"Please take this stinky thing to your father. He'll know what to do with it." She gave the smelly diaper to Lily who held it out away from her body and took it downstairs.

Kate was still smiling while she sat there and nursed her son.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Lily was up in her room, probably playing with her beloved dolly. James was in his room sleeping after just being fed. It allowed Kate and Rick to sit outside and just relax and listen.

"You hear that?" Rick questioned. Kate concentrated. She could see their two horses roaming around. They had found that if they fed them, cleaned them, and treated them with kindness, that they stuck around. The other two had left them. She watched the three goats that they had just lying there doing nothing. However, she didn't hear anything special.

"Hear what?" Kate asked since just asking him was going to get an answer sooner.

"Precisely. Nothing. No horns honking, no police sirens, no voices talking over everyone else."

Kate smiled. She had to admit that it was quiet and she had learned to love it. "No electricity, no hospital, no friends; we don't even know where or when we are," she responded.

Rick turned his head to glare at her. Leave it to Kate to ignore the simplicity of what they had, but he had a counter. "No Gina hounding me for chapters, no dead bodies, the air doesn't stink of garbage not picked up or car exhaust." He wanted to see her top that.

"No coffee, no Chinese food delivered, no pizza. …Did I mention no coffee." Kate folded her arms defiantly and raised her eyebrow. Rick laughed. He had to admit that a decaffeinated Kate wasn't that bad. He wisely kept his mouth closed about it. Not that having coffee was even a possibility where they were.

"How about a beach party tonight? We could haul a lot of our firewood out to the beach and have a roaring fire." Rick spread his hands wide since he was talking about a massive fire.

Kate thought about it. It meant using up a lot of their firewood. That alone meant they had to go farther and farther out to replace what they used. They had used a lot making their house. Plus James wasn't old enough to enjoy it or even remember it.

She started shaking her head. "The beach party I can agree to, but we have a normal small fire. Unless you want to take apart our house to get the firewood." Kate turned her head to look at him to enforce her point.

Rick turned his head away from her. His wife – yes, he considered her his wife – could be so damn logical sometimes. Problem was she was also right a little too often. He would fight for his beach party with a massive fire another time.

He offered his conditions and options. "I'll get the pig, you get the fish, and we'll get the firewood. Maybe we set up the stakes in the hard sand and give playing croquet a try again. I've got three new balls."

Kate thought it over. Lily was old enough now to actually play and maybe enjoy it since she was two. Their first try at this game, one of many that Rick had made for all of them, hadn't worked out because of the balls. "I'm in."

Rick celebrated in his usual way and it had Kate smiling. Even way out here he found a way to make sure their lives never got boring. He was perfect.

~[o]~+~[o]~

The game had started out normally right up until Lily started hitting her ball as hard as she could, watching it angle down the beach and into the water. She chased after it to rescue it so that she could hit it again.

Rick and Kate had given up and sat down with James to watch Lily hit her ball all over. "At least she'll sleep good tonight. You did good." Kate leaned his way to kiss his cheek.

"SLEEP!" Rick hadn't thought about sleeping out here. That had him up and running to get beds for all of them.

"More firewood, too, Castle," Kate called to him since it could get cool out on the beach. "And diapers." She yelled that a little louder since he was farther away by then.

~[o]~+~[o]~

" **MOMMY! …MOMMY!** "Lily didn't know what it was but it looked exciting. The moment Kate even moved, Lily took off running toward it. It had the word EXPLORE written all over it. Even though she couldn't read and had no idea what it said, she was going to do just that. If she could figure out how to get into it.

"What?" Kate was just awake enough to figure out that her daughter was happy. Immediately she turned her head to look at her son who was sleeping peacefully. He should be since he had kept both of them up half the night.

She sat up to look for Lily. What she did see had her in shock. "Castle…" He wasn't going to believe this. "CASTLE!" Kate threw some wet sand at him.

It was cold and rather nasty feeling. Rick snapped awake and was spitting mad. "What the hell?" He opened his eyes and glared at Kate who was just sitting there. It was the look on her face that had him questioning what was going on.

Rick sat up. He couldn't miss it and he knew his mouth had fallen open.

"Castle, is that…? I mean…it's a ship." Or at least what was left of one.

He stood up and willed his brain to wake up. "I think it's a schooner." It just looked different somehow.

"LILY, NO!" Rick had spotted her and she was moving at a dead run, headed right for the beached ship. He went flying after her and only caught up to her when she'd stopped to figure out how she was going to get on it.

It took a little time but Lily was watching her brother while Kate had joined Rick.

"What is it?" Kate hadn't seen anything like it.

"I've read about these. I think it's a pigmy-class schooner. In this case it's a military ship. It has ten12 pound carronades." This thing was a relic and Rick couldn't wait to see it.

"Carronades? Do you mean cannons?" Kate had never heard the term before.

"They're smoothbore cast iron cannons. British, made by the Carron Company in Scotland. They didn't last long once rifling was invented. Now…how do we get in?" He looked it over before deciding on a plan of action.

"It doesn't look very stable." Kate didn't want to get killed while they salvaged it.

"We only have until the tide starts to go out so we need to work fast. I'm thinking we use their rope to tie what we find into bundles and throw it overboard." He began working to get onboard her.

~[o]~+~[o]~

At first Rick hadn't trusted going down into the hold so he and Kate gathered up the tattered sails and dumped them overboard. Also on deck were a few cannons along with what it took to fire them.

He picked up a small pony keg. "Gunpowder. Find all you can and try to get them to land in sand." He threw his overboard and went looking for other stuff while Kate threw more pony kegs over the side.

"KATE!" She heard him yelling for her. It was just that she also heard, "MOMMY!"

She turned each direction and went over to the side of the ship. Lily came first. "What, sweetheart?"

"James is crying," Lily yelled up at her.

"SHIT!" Kate cursed. They had gotten lucky last time and she had high hopes for this ship, too. But her children needed her. "Just hold him for now. Please, sweetheart, we're busy," Kate said to her while hearing Rick yell her name.

"WHAT, CASTLE!" Kate couldn't see him.

"Down here. See if you can find a crane boom and rope. There are barrels down here." Rick was loving what he had found. He also knew they were only going to get a fraction of them.

That had Kate scrambling to find what he was talking about.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Kate was sitting on the sand. She was bone-tired. James was suckling at her breast while she watched Lily and Rick look over what they'd salvaged so far.

"What do we do first?" she asked wearily.

That had Rick looking at her and then at the ship that still had so very much. They had spent hours getting what little they had compared to what was still onboard.

"We get what we have farther up onto the beach. When the tide goes out, this ship is likely going to go with it. At best, we maybe have one more trip to salvage what we can." They were going to lose the rest of it.

"What do we want most?" Kate inquired as James let go; she lifted him to burp him.

"The sails we can use to make mattresses. Real mattresses, stuffed with dried grass." Rick thought about it. "All the powder we can since they're small." He thought about it some more. "Then all the barrels we can. We just can't risk letting them hit the sand again."

He'd tried that on the first one since if it worked it would speed everything up. While it hadn't exploded when he pushed it overboard, it had broken enough for the liquid inside to gush out onto the sand. They hadn't stopped to find out what they'd lost since they had so many barrels to move.

Kate had Lily keeping an eye James while she and Rick went back to work.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Kate was so tired she could barely move. She had James at her breast while she watched Rick put more wood on the fire and began cooking. It was really late and Lily shouldn't be awake but today had been so exciting that she was wide awake.

"What's in it, Mommy?" Lily was standing by one of the many barrels they'd managed to salvage from the ship.

"I have no idea, lovey, but we'll find out eventually." First they had to roll them home.

"It could be anything, Lily pad. It was a military vessel. British, based on the name of her. So it could be tea leaves, it could be rum." Rick was guessing most were filled with a liquid.

"I'm wishing for apples, salt, pepper. …Castle, do you think it could be salted meats?" Kate was pretty sure they did that back then, which was more now for them.

"Possibly," he agreed easily.

Rick shared what little he knew. "Mostly likely we'll find honey, hard cheeses, olives, garlic, dried lentils, salted anchovies, beer, and wine. Meat and fruits spoiled too quickly. We might find olive oil, maybe raisins."

Kate looked it over as she lifted James to burp him. They had 16 kegs that probably held black powder, another 11 full-size barrels and she didn't know how much real rope and yards and yards of sail.

"Do we dare try for more?" Kate queried; she felt like getting greedy.

He shook his head. "Too dark." He adjusted the pig. The whole thing was just above the fire on a wooden spit and he was turning it slowly. Rick looked out at the ship and wished for it to still be there come morning. But he didn't like their chances.

"Yeah," Kate agreed softly. The last thing they needed was to break a leg or get seriously hurt. "When was penicillin invented?" Was there any chance they would find that or any medical supplies?

"London, 1928. …A hundred years from now if we're right."

They had found some fruit on the island that they were eating. It was just that Kate didn't know what they and her children were missing in their diet.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Kate woke up to find that Lily was pushing her. "What that noise, Mommy?" Lily had listened to it for a while and it was beginning to scare her.

Tiredly, she looked at a sleeping James. "Wake your father." Kate started walking toward the noise which, she was sure, was coming from the ship.

Kate felt his arms wrap around her. "Is that what I think it is?" She was sure she was going to hate the answer.

"That's our ship breaking up a little more and going back out to sea with the tide," Rick said, sighing heavily. He had hoped it would stay.

"Do you think it'll come back with the tide?" Kate asked with hope.

He thought about it. "Maybe, but it'll be in worse shape. Less stable and more dangerous for us."

She was afraid he would say that. "What was it called again?" No matter if they ever saw it again; it had given them a gift.

"HMS Algerine. She was a schooner. About 80 feet long by 22 feet wide. A two master. Probably had around 50 for a crew."

A thought hit Kate so she asked him. "Do you think you saw any of them in that Void of yours?"

Rick thought about that. He'd seen a lot of different people. People had died from all kinds of reasons. He just didn't remember that many of them dying from drowning or from being eaten by sharks. "I doubt it. If we're right, they died 200 hundred years ago." He knew time was odd, but he didn't see it as being that odd.

Kate sank further back in his arms. "We need to get off this island, babe. This is no place for Lily and James to grow up."

"If wrecks can come here then so can manned ships. We'll get off this island some day." He just didn't know when.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Rick was upstairs putting their bed together. Lily and Jame's new bed was done already. He was using a bone as a needle and thread they'd unraveled from the sail itself to stitch the mattresses together.

Kate was downstairs with Lily while James slept. She was thinking about all they had gained recently as she carefully and very slowly opened the last bag to dump back into the barrel. Rick had finally agreed with her idea. So long as the barrel was sealed tight, what did it matter if the contents weren't still in a bag? They had need for the bags. So now all their remaining rice, sugar, and flour were in barrels while they used the bags.

Barrel #1 - Olive Oil

Barrel #2 - Wine

Barrel #3 and 4 - Raisins

Barrel #5 - Salted Anchovies

Barrel #6 - Honey in jar, after jar, after jar

Barrel #7 and 8 - Salt

Barrel #9 thru 11 - Beer

"Done, Mommy." Lily was proud of herself. She hadn't spilled a thing.

"Nice work, sweetheart!" Kate kissed her head. Kate picked up the last bag of salt and poured it into its barrel.

"All done." Rick came down the stairs to see how Kate was doing. He listened as she explained what they'd gained.

"Plus we still have more sail and all that rope. Raisins, huh?" Rick picked one out of the barrel and popped it into his mouth and resisted moaning at the taste. It had been so very long, or so it felt. "These might solve some of your vitamin worries," he remarked, unaware that Kate had already thought about it.

"I get most of it, but what are we going to do with salted anchovies?" Kate made a face.

"I'll think of something." He wasn't a fan of anchovies, even on pizza. But beggars couldn't be choosers and they were definitely beggars.

"Now we can wish for another shipwreck. Maybe for either Lily's or James's birthday." He had no idea what Lily had wished for but whatever it had been, it had worked.


	9. Chapter 9

**Lost - 6**

Martha caught Alexis packing. "So you're going back. You must like him." The actress was smiling widely. She'd been right. Her granddaughter had found someone and it wasn't here in New York.

"Yes, Grams, I like him. But don't get in front of yourself too far. I'm just staying for the summer. I'll be back for classes in the fall." At least that was her plan at present.

"Perhaps." Martha was betting that they had a college somewhere in the Bahamas. It may not be as prestigious as the one she was attending, but it was a college.

"You **are** coming out for a visit, Grams. The beach may not be to your liking but Nassau has a lot of places to go shopping." Alexis wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Hmm." Martha thought about it. "They may have some jewelry that I can't live without."

Alexis offered another enticement. "And maybe a lovely dinner cruise with a nice man while sipping wine."

"Now you're speaking my language. Maybe even more than a week." Martha was starting to like this idea.

"I'll make arrangements for you after I get there. Find you a hotel room on the beach so you can see the ocean." She tried yet another enticement. "Maybe next to a casino."

"Gambling! Sold! What was his name again?" Martha had forgotten. Mostly because Alexis barely said it.

She told her again. "Andres White."

"That's right, Andre." Martha couldn't believe she had forgotten.

Alexis was all set to correct her again but let it go. She was either teasing her or really didn't get it. "Just pack and get ready to join us, please. It's going to be great."

"He does what for a living?" Martha had to admit that she wasn't listening as closely as she should have.

"He's an architect. At the moment he's part of a team that's sending in a remodel idea for the cruise ship port of Nassau. He's hoping that if they win they will get to do other cruise ports. Maybe even design new ones for new islands. He's talented, Grams." At least Alexis thought he was. They were about to find out if other people did as well.

~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~

"Andres!" Alexis was happy to see him and he had even met her at the airport.

"Alexis." He walked right up to her and kissed her in the middle of the terminal. "You said you were staying all summer." He couldn't believe his luck.

"I am. Which reminds me. We need to remodel your apartment a little." His place spoke to her and not in a good way.

"Just don't go nuts on me. If we win I was thinking of moving to a new place," Andres said.

"Ooo, Nassau real estate. I'm all over it," she bubbled enthusiastically. Andres laughed and wrapped an arm around her. He was just loading the last bag into the back of his Jeep.

Then Alexis dropped her bomb on him. "I may have invited my grandmother to join us for a week or so." But before he could say anything, she continued, "I'm going to find her a hotel room."

"Good, my place only has one bedroom and one American in my room is enough," Andres teased and was rewarded with a glare. "You can unpack and then we can go out and eat. Unless you want to look for a hotel room or look up local real estate first."

"All that can wait. Feed me, I'm hungry and then maybe we can burn off all those calories in your one American only room." Alexis smiled at him and giggled when his hand missed the stick.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Andres came in behind Alexis dressed in only his boxers to find her sitting at his work desk in one of his shirts. "What are you doing?" He gazed over her shoulder. She looked to be using her computer but it was at his desk.

"Looking for a hotel for Grams. Then I can get her a ticket and tell her when she's leaving and where she's going," Alexis said absently, continuing to look.

"Since my Jeep can barely hold the two of us and your luggage, I'll give you the key and you can go get her. Just get an address, plug it into the GPS, and you should be good." Andres kissed her head.

"Breakfast? I went shopping yesterday just for you," Andres smiled.

"Hm? Oh, something light, please. Are you working today?" She wanted to know if she was on her own.

"Unfortunately, yes. We need to get this presentation right. Getting it will mean a lot." It meant work; hopefully lots of it.

"I'll go into town and do some shopping then." It was code that she was going to go see her researcher and find out what he had found so far.

"How about this for Grams?" Alexis called which had him leaving the kitchen to look.

Andres shot her first idea down. "Stay off of Paradise Island," he warned. "It's not that what's there is bad. It's just that access is limited. At rush hour it can take over an hour, even from here." Alexis went back to looking. "And stay away from the airport. Jet noise."

"How about here?" His warning about Paradise Island took away all of the high priced hotels except for this one.

He came back over to look. "The Island House just off of Old Fort Bay. It's nice. A bit pricey but nice. Sometimes it might take us a little while to get there from here." Andres signed off on it. "Book it if you like it and think your grandmother will."

"Asian House, Mahogany House, world renowned wines, coffee bar. They have a cinema, The Bamford Spa. The activities don't sound like my grandmother. Film festival. It sounds like a place she would like, though." Alexis went in search of rooms. "No, no, no. A suite. One king bed with 900 square feet of space and 300 square feet of balcony or patio." Alexis was happy with her choice and booked it, then went looking for an airfare.

"She'll be here in three weeks for a week. Longer if she likes it." Alexis joined him in the kitchen and kissed him before sneaking a bite of her breakfast.

"Call me if you think you have time. I'm going to go shopping." Alexis gave him a quick kiss before getting in her taxi and giving him the address she had for her researcher.

~[o]~+~[o]~

"Ms. Castle!" He was happy to see her since it had been a little while. "I'm ready for you." He had her take a seat. "Please forgive the surroundings. I'm renting a desk from these people who, as you can see, have the space." There were five desks and only three of them had any papers on them.

"Not a problem. We could have done this at a restaurant if you'd wanted." Alexis just wanted the information and didn't care where she learned it.

"I'll keep that in mind for next time." He liked that idea and was going to use it.

"This is the island in question." He showed her an aerial photo of Cat Island. "As you know they built a house here." He handed over another aerial photo, only this one was more of a close-up.

"As I'm sure you saw, it was built all by hand with no nails." He had been impressed by that alone. Alexis snapped her head up to look at him. That was something she didn't know and hadn't looked for when she was there.

"No nails." How did you manage that, Dad?

"My resources tell me that they were found in the year 1836. This would place the girl that was with them at 15 years old. I'm afraid I have no pictures of her. The boys are James, who was 13 at the time, and Levi, age 11." He gave her some information to read.

Alexis took her time since she had all day unless her boyfriend called to say he was free for lunch. "This talks about them being taken to Nassau."

"Indeed," he agreed. "From the notes I came across, the captain of the ship that found them was both a little shocked and a little impressed. He was shocked that all of them were naked and that the children all resisted being clothed." That had Alexis smiling. She hadn't really thought that her dad and Kate would be naked the entire time. But it made sense.

"He was also impressed that the same children showed that they were smart. His remarks suggested to me that they were home-schooled. He just didn't see how they did it." He read ahead while Alexis digested that bit.

To her thinking, it had her dad written all over it. She just didn't know how he'd done it either.

"I'm having difficulty chasing down the children and what they did next or where they went. But I will. I still have a couple of leads to pursue. I've had better luck with the parents, though.

"The woman was the easiest to find. She got a job in a local school." He handed over that piece of information.

Alexis started reading. "First grade!" She found that a bit of a shock.

He offered a comment. "It helps explain why the children impressed the captain as much as they did."

Alexis took that idea and silently agreed. "It says her name was Katherine Kravitz." It should have been either Beckett or Castle.

"Finding her gave me my first lead on him." He gave her the paperwork for him.

Alexis read as fast as she could. "Richard Kravitz?" Still both were Rick and Kate which was good.

"It took a lot of looking but I found a picture of her. It's with one of her classes." He searched for it, found it and handed it over. "It's old and faded and this is just a copy. However, you can just make out the date."

Alexis took it and studied it carefully. She was tall, like really tall with long legs. It was a little too faded to see the face clearly. But she was smiling. She had at least found Kate, and she was a teacher.

He didn't understand why she was so involved with people that lived almost 200 hundred years ago. He found it odd that his client was sitting there with a hand over her mouth as tears started. It left him with a lot of questions, though he was being paid good money and still had things to tell her.

"Once I had his name it was easier to find out more about him. He has a number of works that are still in the local library. Most of his earlier works, especially the first editions, are in the hands of collectors. I did manage to purchase one. It's not a first edition or anything but I thought you might like it." He pulled it out of a drawer and gave it to her.

Alexis took it and looked it over. "They didn't do books like we do today. There's no book cover or enticement to get you to buy it and read it. It's just a book." She opened it, turned a few pages, and began reading. "It's a children's book." She wasn't sure if she was shocked or not. It wasn't a mystery book like Derek Storm or Nikki Heat.

"From what I've been able to learn, all of his books were children's books. I found it interesting. She taught children and in a way he taught children through his books." They were obviously family-oriented people.

Alexis used the back of her hand to wipe away some of the tears that had spilled down her face. "He wrote books." It was all she really needed to tell her this man was her dad.

"Several actually. I have no idea what kind of money he made or what she made as a teacher. But having two incomes would suggest that they did relatively well given the time.

"I managed to find an area where they might have lived, although any houses in that area are long gone. At the moment I'm trying to find a grave and what happened to their children. If you're interested…" He feared that his money train had learned enough already.

"YES! Please. Both actually. Trace the children and their offspring all the way to present day if you can. And I would very much like for you to find graves for both of them. Please." She hadn't encountered either of them in the Void so far. And since her dad did this before her that meant he couldn't escort himself to his door.

It was one of the reasons she had her item for her plan on her at the moment. Just she hadn't worked out what she was going to do when they went to a beach with her boyfriend.

"Find them, please. All of them." Alexis wanted to learn all there was to learn. Maybe if she was lucky she would get to see and talk to family.

His curiosity got the best of him. He decided to risk it. "May I ask what interests you in this family?"

"Family, I think they might be family. Just find them, all of them," Alexis instructed him. "And thank you for all of this. I'll be here until fall so if you need me for some reason, I'll be in the area." She stood up and shook his hand, leaving a lot happier than she had been when she entered.

"You're around here somewhere, Dad, and I'm going to find you," Alexis said to the empty space around her.

~[o]~+~[o]~

"Grams!" Alexis hugged her and was really happy to see her. "I have Andres's Jeep. We just need your bags and I can take you to your hotel. He has to work today so I'm all yours until tonight when we have dinner reservation."

"Hotel? I was expecting to share a house," Martha teased.

"He has a small place with one bedroom. There's not really enough room for all of us." Alexis walked right into it and never even saw it coming. Martha was smiling broadly since she now knew where her granddaughter was staying.

"The Island House. How original," Martha commented as they pulled in at the front entrance.

"Give it a chance, Grams." She didn't have an alternative. If she didn't like it, they were going to be in trouble.

Smiling, Martha was walking around her room. It was a one bedroom suite. "It has two restaurants, a spa and a pool, and isn't far from the beach," Alexis said after she saw her on the patio looking out over the ocean. "And a view."

Martha was done teasing her. "You had me at spa, dear." She glanced at Alexis. "So when do I get to meet this wonderful fellow of yours?" She was really looking forward to it.

"Tonight at dinner." Alexis really hoped it all went well.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Andres showed up behind Alexis as she was drinking her morning coffee. "Your grandmother…" He was still searching for a word.

Alexis helped him out. "Grams is unique."

"That about sums her up. She is truly one of a kind. She also loves you a lot." Andres hadn't missed that, either.

"She's the only family I have left." At least until her researcher slash genealogist came through and found decedents of her dad and Kate. _Kravitz. They got married. Officially married._ She thought she had something.

"I need to call him." Alexis left him to go in search of her phone, leaving a bewildered Andres standing there. "Hi, it's Alexis Castle. I need you to look for weddings. Specifically the Kravitz wedding. That isn't their original name. If it helps, look for the names Castle and Beckett." She abruptly hung up on him since she didn't need his questions.

When she turned she saw Andres looking at her with questions. She gave him a bone. "I'm chasing my family tree. I've made it as far back as early 1800s. They were in this general area."

"So that's why you were here. It sounds…nice. Not a lot of people care about their ancestry. They're too busy living in the now or worried about tomorrow." It was one more thing to like about Alexis.

"Ancestry tells us who we are. We make our own choices so we write our own future. But people are our past. Without one of them we wouldn't even be born." Alexis wove a lie in with the truth, hoping he would believe her.

Andres moved in closer so he could hold her. "What else have you been doing these last few weeks? Besides shopping." He had found a few new things in his place.

She bristled a little. "This place needed it."

"Change it all you want. Just so long as it keeps you here." He didn't want her to leave.

"I do have college courses back in New York," Alexis reminded him.

"We'll talk again when the time comes. Maybe things will change." Andres kissed her. "What else have you been doing? You strike me as someone who doesn't slow down. I know you've been up to something. So are you going to tell me what?" Andres kissed her again, then again, and again.

"Okay, come see." Alexis led him over to her laptop and brought up what she'd saved.

"A boat!" Andres was a little shocked. He'd been sure she was looking for a house. "Pegasus IX. Says it is here in Nassau, meaning we could go look at it. Sabre Catamarans, Western Australia, 2005. Refit in 2013 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. That makes it really recent. Like this year recent." He was impressed and kept reading before Alexis started showing him pictures.

"Ninety feet long, made of fiberglass, ABS certified and can be run with a crew of two." He liked the sound of that. "The owners have purchased a home here and are looking to downsize to a sailing cat. Two million nine hundred forty thousand US dollars. You can afford that much?" They had never talked about money. He'd suspected that she had money since she was flying out there but he'd never suspected she was that rich.

"I have enough." Actually she had more than enough and that was after buying her dad and Kate's home.

"What else?" He didn't think Alexis would stop at just one.

"Tigers Eye, a 2008 Hargrave Skylounge. Also located here in Nassau." This one was listed at $3,950,000 US.

He liked the pictures; it looked a lot more luxurious. "It costs a lot more but it looks like it needs more than two people to man it," Andres warned.

"Yeah, I was afraid of that. That will probably rule out the last one, too." Alexis showed him her third choice.

"Private Radio, 1984 Motor Yacht Poole Chaffee, 105 feet long. Only $1,400,000 US. At least it costs less," Andres commented and then looked at the pictures she showed him. "It looks like it's from 1984." He wasn't a fan of the interior.

"It says it underwent an extensive renovation." It talked about all new engines, new plumbing, new electrical. It included a tender and two garages for water toys.

"Still looks like more than two people can handle." He was ready to shoot it down just for that among other concerns. "Have you ever sailed before? Do you know what it takes to keep it clean inside and out?"

"Not yet." Alexis was willing to admit that she didn't know a thing. "But I'm not buying it yet. I'm just looking. Trying to decide on my options."

"Well owning a yacht sounds like a good plan. It allows you – or us – to get around. Explore a little. Go see smaller islands that can only be reached by boat. Just make sure it has a shallow draft or carries its own small boat to get around in. We need groceries after all," Andres cautioned and kissed her head.

"Don't forget we have another dinner with your grandmother tonight. She said something about a surprise." Andres headed for the shower to get ready.

"Okay, so maybe a yacht needs more research." Alexis sighed. "I wish you were here, Dad, I could use some advice." It was one of the few times that she suddenly felt all alone. It also left her wondering what surprise her grandmother had for them.

She was walking toward the bathroom to join him in the shower so she could get ready when she found herself in the Void. She was thankful it wasn't her dad since she had gotten lax about carrying around her idea. If it would even work.


	10. Chapter 10

**Lost - 7**

Kate almost couldn't believe it. Here she was again, only this time she was resting on a far more comfortable bed after having given birth to her second son. She had just finished nursing him and now he was sleeping in her arms.

Lily and James had been up to get a quick look but they were both downstairs helping their father at this time. Rick had suddenly come up with a plan that Kate thought he was silently kicking himself over. He wasn't forthcoming with what it was, saying only that Lily and James were going to help him.

Kate was starting to doze when Rick showed up. "How are you feeling?" Their son's birth had gone pretty much like the previous two. She'd done a lot of screaming but hadn't threatened any of his body parts this time.

"Tired, a little pain. Happy." Kate felt her tears starting. "I've been thinking. Lily is five, going on six. James is two working on three and now we have our Levi. It means we've been here at least 6 years, almost seven." She couldn't believe it.

"Time flies when you're having fun," Rick smiled and Kate chuckled.

"How are our supplies?" They'd never seen the second shipwreck again.

"We may need to cut down on the use of flour soon. Like today. Everything else is going to last a while longer if we're careful. You're the only one drinking wine so it's going to last a long time. I'm the only one drinking the beer, which, by the way, isn't all that good. So it's going to last a lot longer." Kate was happy to have the wine and much like Rick's beer, it wasn't all that great.

"Lily has taken a shine to the honey. We still have more molasses than I know what to do with. And we still have almost all of the salted anchovies. As for the sugar and rice…we have more sugar now than rice. We may need to start thinking about being careful with just about everything if we don't get lucky again." Rick shook his head. They had four mouths to feed and Kate needed more calories because she was breastfeeding their new son.

Kate had been afraid of that, but was thankful for what they did have. "What have you been up to?" She was curious since he wasn't sharing.

"I remembered that we could bury the pig and we could cook it like a Hawaiian luau." Rick had been kicking himself for forgetting until now. "You dig a hole, put a lot of hot rocks at the bottom. Lower the pig down – usually in a metal net – then cover it with lots and lots of palm fronds and let it cook.

"Levi can have his first beach luau tonight. Maybe we'll get lucky and find another ship come morning." Eating and sleeping on the beach had gotten them what they had now, so it was possible.

"We can wish," Kate said tiredly and yawned a jaw-cracking yawn.

"You'd better sleep while you can," Rick cautioned. He took the baby from her and laid him in the cradle.

She closed her eyes knowing that he was right. Both she and Rick were not going to get a lot of sleep for quite some time.

~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~

Alexis had come by Martha's hotel to pick her up so that she could see it too. "You've stayed longer than a week, Grams. You must like it here." Alexis couldn't help herself. She just had to mention it.

Martha listed some of what she liked about it. "It's been lovely. The air's clear, the food's good, the men are nice. However, when you go back to school I'll be going with you. I need to start up my school. I have students waiting for me."

Alexis knew it was too good to be true.

"And you, dear, what are your plans? He really is a nice young man. You sure you're ready for a big change?" Her son wasn't here to ground Alexis, not that her granddaughter needed to be grounded very often.

"We're not married, you know. We're still just dating." _While living in the same small apartment._ This purchase was either a good idea or a really bad one. She had invited Andres with her when she had went to see it. Now she wanted her grandmother's thoughts before she bought it. It was a lot of money.

"Ready!" Martha stepped out of the bedroom, dressed to impress, if not forcing everyone she chanced to meet to wear sunglasses. Alexis grinned. Being there had brought out the old Grams before her dad and Kate had gone through the door together.

"Should we be inviting someone else?" Alexis couldn't resist.

Martha didn't bite. "I thought your young man had a big day today?"

"He does." Alexis gave up trying to find out if Martha was going to introduce her to whomever she was seeing. "Let's go, I have the Jeep and an address."

Martha was smiling widely as Alexis drove. "Richard should have gotten one of these for the house in the Hamptons." She was loving the wind.

The Hamptons was one more thing that she needed to figure out. If – and it was a big if – Andres popped the question and she said yes, where were they going to live?

She was willing to give up the loft and pocket the money, but what was she going to do with the house in the Hamptons? The house was on the bay side and not ocean side. Still with some work she could anchor the boat and take a small one to the beach. Maybe. Alexis was still thinking when the GPS announced that they had arrived.

"None of these are boats, Alexis." Martha got out and saw nothing but yachts. Granted there were boats close in but Alexis was walking them past all of them and out toward the really big ones.

"OH MY!" Martha was impressed at the boat Alexis stopped at and introduced her to the owner.

"Drop the key at the same spot and take your time." He left them to look the boat over.

"This is **not** a boat, Alexis." Martha couldn't believe this was what Alexis was thinking of purchasing.

Alexis readily admitted that it was big. "It has more square footage than the loft does but you only need two people to run it. It's a catamaran, just a big one."

They stepped onto the lower rear deck that had a deep sea fishing chair and a place to put more than one pole while you waited. Using the key to get past the glass doors, they went inside.

There was a small outdoor dining table and inside Martha found a living room, a wet bar, and a dining room with a round table that seated six. The sectional was white as were the dining table chairs; the floor was tile with long narrow tiles. A white cabinet with stainless steel appliances was just beyond.

"I like it, Alexis, I like it a lot." Martha spun around in the kitchen taking it all in.

Upstairs were the bedrooms and bathrooms. The master bedroom was large and had a small seating area. Everything was a light beige which so far was the only thing Martha disliked. The floor used the same tile that was in the living room. There was storage everywhere, even under the bed. The en suite had dual vanities and a large walk-in shower.

A small bedroom with a pair of twin beds was next. It was so small it barely held both beds and it was the same color as the master. It did have its own en suite behind a pocket door.

Another bedroom was next that was about the same size, only this one had a single queen bed. It like the others was the same color and same floor. It also had its own bathroom though it was tiny. You were practically sitting on the toilet to use the sink.

The final bedroom also had its own en suite, however, Martha pointed out an eyesore. Alexis agreed that it was an issue. "I don't know why the washer and dryer are IN the bedroom. I was thinking of looking into how to move it into the bathroom."

The next level up was an outdoor seating area that also had an outdoor grilling space that even came with a sink. Forward of this was the cockpit. "Oh my." All Martha saw was a lot of controls and a whole lot of gauges and displays. "You're sure about this?" To her this looked like trouble.

"A little training and some classes and we'll be fine." Alexis knew it was going to take some effort to learn how to run this boat. "We can do it. Plus it has good range so we can move around a lot." She was still coming to terms with what a nautical mile was.

That had Martha looking at her with a question. She had noticed it was a lot of WE in their conversations. "I do love him, Grams," Alexis admitted. "But I'm not ready to get married just yet. Maybe a couple of years from now." If not more as far as she was concerned.

Martha smiled at her. "Just be careful, that's all I ask. That and a few grandchildren."

Out of everything, this one was what Alexis was all set to tell her about. That she had grandchildren with Dad and Kate. Three actually, only all of them were living 200 years or so in the past.

"Maybe some day," Alexis said instead. She looked at the time. "His meeting should be ending soon. We'll find out if he got the project and what that means. Have you seen enough? There's a big engine room if you want to see that."

Martha shook her head. "Let's go see if your young man has gotten his wish. I'm sure he's worked hard for it." She had a question while they drove. "If you buy this yacht, are both of you going to move in as soon as possible?"

"No, the lease on his apartment isn't up for another nine months and there are penalties if he breaks it." It was his apartment, not theirs.

Alexis wanted to be careful with money. It was one of the reasons why she was thinking about selling the loft and maybe the house in the Hamptons. She'd spent a lot on her dad and Kate's house and the land that came with it. She still had money but wanted to be wise spending it.

"He doesn't look happy." Martha pointed out as they stopped, parking close to him.

Alexis silently agreed and started thinking of things she could do or say that would lift him back up. Just because he or they didn't get this project didn't mean his dream was over.

"Andres?" She walked toward him and braced herself for the worst. But the next thing she knew she was being held tight and being kissed soundly while Martha watched and smiled.

Alexis searched his face after breaking from the kiss. "We got it!" He was all smiles. She hugged him as tight as she could.

"I knew you could do it. I knew it." Alexis was thrilled for him.

"Excellent." Martha clapped her hands together and held them to her mouth.

"Thanks, Martha." He had come to like her. For a woman her age he was amazed at how she never slowed down. "Did she show you her little dingy?" Andres teased, which earned him a swat to his arm.

Martha nodded. "There are bigger boats out there but that one's a big one. Are you two sure you can handle it? It looks so complex." That was her main concern. Alexis had never ever talked about going to sea before she started coming here.

"I have a friend who's volunteered to help us and it's a ship, not a boat. His isn't nearly as large but he can teach us a lot." Andres wasn't worried. "Plus if we win the next project we can use it to get around." They wouldn't need to rent where the jobs took him, or them.

"If you move the washer and dryer and maybe change some colors, it would be lovely." It looked just a little dull to her.

"I did notice that. It's something we'll have to talk about, but I have a lot of work to do now that we've won it. The port is going to change and it's going to take time." Andres wasn't worried about doing the work. He just worried about how much time he was going to have for Alexis.

Alexis looked at him and her grandmother. "How do you feel about a celebration dinner?"

"I'm in. We'll take Martha back to her hotel, go to the apartment to get ready, then pick her up on the way to our celebration."

~[o]~+~[o]~

"We haven't been over here," Martha pointed out as Andres drove them across the bridge onto Paradise Island.

"This is the only way to reach the island except by boat. It can get ugly at certain times. The locals don't come here, this is a tourist area."

 **Chop Stix** turned out to be inside Atlantis and Martha was impressed with the resort.

"WOW!" She looked around as they entered. It was one big open room that didn't have a ceiling. Instead it was open wood roof that peaked in the very center. There were hundreds if not thousands of cords that created a false ceiling that had lights hiding on the other side.

The edge had bench seating on one side with tables everywhere that all had white linen on them. There were gold colored square plates on square tables and round plates on round tables. They all had bright red chopsticks on each plate. The floor was carpet that had reds and golds in it that matched the gold cushioned dark wood chairs.

Martha couldn't wait to find out what they served here since she liked Chinese food. She looked it over. "I don't read Chinese," she whispered since the menu was in Chinese.

"Just order what you want, Grams." It was a problem but Alexis was willing to overlook it. Andres, though, asked for English menus and soon they were happily ordering their favorites.

~[o]~+~[o]~

"That was some of the best Chinese food I've ever had. Even the restaurants in New York don't compare. I'm going to have to come here more often." Martha commented on the way back to her hotel.

"With your latest conquest?" Alexis ribbed, knowing that her grandmother went through men like water went through a strainer.

"Do you mean Nathan or Daniel?" Martha inquired.

"GRAMS!" Two at the same time was taking things too far, even for her.

"Oh, relax. I stopped seeing Nathan a week ago." Martha flipped her hand like Nathan was old news.

Alexis stared at Andres, looking for some support. "Andres," she whispered and poked him.

"What was wrong with Nathan?" He didn't know either of them.

Martha briefly pursed her lips and tilted her head, thinking. "He was fun but there was something missing. He didn't have that…spark."

"And Daniel? Does he have this spark?" Andres questioned.

"We'll see." They had only been on a couple of dates.

"Invite him to our dinner cruise. If he can't survive us, then you know he's the wrong guy," Andres said. He didn't miss seeing Alexis beaming at him. He was pretty sure he had just scored some major points.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Martha was in her hotel and Andres was lying in bed waiting on Alexis. He was just starting to wonder if she had flushed herself down the commode when suddenly a naked Alexis was sitting on him.

"You were amazing!" She leaned down to kiss him. "Grams goes through men like I don't know what. Dad always teased her." She placed her hands on his chest and smiled down at him.

"You're not mad that we'll be sharing our romantic dinner cruise with your grandmother and her…choice?" He didn't know what Daniel was or what he did.

"No." Alexis leaned down to kiss him again only this time it was meant to start something. Though being tickled with her squealing wasn't one of them. The next thing she knew she was on her back and Andres was kissing his way down her body.

~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~

Rick found Kate just sitting there, daydreaming. "Penny for your thoughts? Not that I have a penny." A minute passed. "Kate? Earth to Kate."

She looked up. "Hi, Castle. Were you saying something?" She was pretty sure she had blown him off without meaning to.

"You looked lost and I wanted to know about what." Rick shrugged; whatever it was wasn't that important.

"I was just wondering how they got so old so fast." Kate couldn't believe it. She had been there and watched it, but felt like it had snuck up on her.

Rick sat down next to her. "I still remember when Alexis was six and she needed me. Now she's all grown up and not only am I not there, but she was all grown up before I even left. Before I even know it I'm going to be old and Lily's going to be Alexis's age." He started to wonder where the time had gone as well.

"We're getting old," she sighed. She never thought of herself as being old, but seeing her children grow up was doing it.

Rick huffed out a laugh. "You forget I've got 10 years on you." He was the one that was old, not Kate.

She leaned forward, becoming serious. "We need to get off this island, Castle. Lily doesn't have anyone except her brothers. She's not developing any social skills." Kate didn't know how to fix it.

"She's six…well almost seven. She's not ready for dating." Rick thought she was years from her first date. Like thirty years.

"Okay so dating is a bad… She has no friends. She doesn't go to school. And I don't know how to fix it." Kate let her head fall into her hands. She took a peek. "What are you smiling about?" Their children's lives were what they were talking about.

"Just that a few years ago the only thing you cared about was your mother's case. Now look at you. You've gone all mommy on me." For Rick, family was everything and here Kate was worrying about what he cared about most.

His words hit her and she realized he was right. "Mom will never know. Dad will never know." She wasn't sure if anyone was going to know.

"Never say never, love. My work in the Void taught me that. We just need the right door."

"Except you're not in the Void any more. Besides, who says we could get that lucky? You probably don't even remember her door." And why were they talking about this? Neither of them were dead yet or even close.

She saw the look on his face. "Oh, my god. You know what door she picked!"


	11. Chapter 11

**Lost - 8**

Lily found Kate downstairs looking over what they had left. "Morning, Mama!"

"Morning, sweetheart." Kate made a mental note to talk to Rick.

"I'm going to go for a ride. Is there anything you need?" Lily asked as she stopped at the door.

A vast amount of things came to Kate's mind. Like electricity. Or an entire restaurant. If she could, maybe bring back the younger version of herself so that she would have more time with her own daughter. "I'm good. Enjoy the beach." Since that was where Lily usually rode.

Lily felt like having company this morning. "May I take James with me? He's old enough to ride."

"Sure, just don't abandon your younger brother if he wants to go too." She didn't want there to be fights in her family.

"Levi left with Dad before the sun even came up. Thanks, Ma." Lily ran outside to find her horse and then found James.

"He left? When did they leave?" Kate yelled after her but got no reply. "What are you up to Castle?" she said to herself, sure that he was up to something.

Kate went back to her inventory. The flour was almost gone as was the rice. The raisins were long gone and even the honey was also getting really low thanks to Lily's need to have it on everything. The anchovies got buried years ago before they'd barely used any of them. They still had some olive oil for cooking. And there were several large crocks of molasses. The wine and beer were gone. Almost everything was gone. With that in mind, Kate ran to the door. " **FIND ANOTHER SHIPWRECK WHILE YOU** **'** **RE OUT!** "They really needed another one badly.

"Laundry…" Kate groaned. She hung her head and started up the stairs to begin taking the mattresses apart. They were the most time-consuming to clean since it meant restuffing them and sewing them back together after the sailcloth was dry.

"What are you doing, Castle?" She hadn't seen him all morning as she was hanging the last of the mattresses up to dry. "And where is Levi?" Actually all of her family was missing.

"WHAT'S GOING ON!?" Kate cried out into the empty space.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Kate was upstairs restuffing the mattresses with new dried grass when she heard noises outside. Curious, she got up, went over to the window, and looked out. "CASTLE! What are you doing?" That was when she saw her youngest son perched on a horse a little behind Castle and he was holding a rope. On the other end of that rope were eight goats. "You went goat hunting." She started chuckling while smiling broadly.

The goats and turtle eggs had come in really handy over the years. Goat milk, goat cheese and goat meat, which didn't happen very often, had all been welcome supplements to their diet.

The addition of the horses years ago had allowed them to reach all parts of the island easily. They now knew where everything was. Lily, James, and even Levi had gotten pretty good at riding bareback. Thanks to an earlier shipwreck they had all the bridals, reins, bits, buckles, and halters they were going to need.

She abandoned the tasks of mattress stuffing and sewing it back up to go downstairs and talk to Castle. "What brought this on?" They had goats already. Granted there were only four of them since they had chosen to butcher one. "Why?" Kate took his reins and watched him get down.

"The kids are getting older and we're running low on a lot of things. So I thought I would try and find a replacement. We really do need to talk, though. Maybe out on the beach after they're in bed." Rick didn't want them overhearing them talking.

It sounded ominous to Kate. "Sure, I'll bring the tea."

He grimaced. "Must you?" He'd been happy to get all that tea initially, but the taste had changed over the years.

"We need to use it up before it goes the way of the anchovies," Kate argued.

He was quite willing to let it join the anchovies in death but… "Sure, maybe it'll make it a fast talk." He got a glare from Kate for that.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Rick settled in comfortably as he watched their small fire burn on the beach. He reached across to take Kate's hand. "Do you miss your old life? Homicide detective by day, Castle hater by night."

She chuckled. "I learned to hate you during the day, too." She clutched his hand tightly. "I miss some things. I don't miss the smell of dead bodies. I don't miss what people could do to each other all in the name of greed, power, or passion gone wrong. What about you?"

"I do miss riding in your police car, playing with the siren, putting on my vest and following you into some dark warehouse in search of killers who deserve to spend the rest of their lives in prison." Rick smiled and squeezed her hand.

"You never could stop touching things." Kate sighed. "I do miss Lanie, Javi, and Kevin. They felt like family. I know you miss Alexis even though you haven't said anything."

After all this time, Rick finally allowed his heart to miss her. He had Kate and he had a family, but yeah, he missed her. "It doesn't matter, we're something like 200 years apart. Meredith hasn't been born yet. Neither has my mother. What we do now is what matters."

"What are we going to do, Rick? We're almost down to what we started with." And it wasn't just the two of them anymore.

Rick remained silent for a couple of minutes; their talk had turned serious. "What do you suggest? We don't have a phone, radio, computer, or any other means of communication. Unless you mean smoke signals. We don't even have a mirror."

"I don't know. I wish I did. We've been so fortunate. I just wonder if we've used up all of our luck." Kate let go of his hand and started wringing her hands.

"Who are you and what have you done with Kate Beckett? The Kate Beckett I knew didn't believe in magic."

"Maybe you've rubbed off on me." She gave him a weak smile.

"I could rub parts of me on you," Rick grinned suggestively, getting Kate to laugh.

"I think that's how we got three kids." Not that she was sorry.

"We could keep trying for a fourth," he teased and reached for her.

"Three's enough, thank you very much." She had no idea how they had stopped at three since they were still making love…when they had the time.

"Since there's nothing we can do about it, why are we out here again?"

"I was hoping for another miracle. Another shipwreck, something." Kate wasn't picky.

Rick pointed at the heavens. "How about aliens?"

"That's a shooting star, Castle, not a UFO," Kate snarked.

"So make a wish before it…" It was too late, it was gone

Actually she already had, she just wasn't going to admit it to Rick. Luck and UFOs didn't exist.

Both of them were quiet. Kate because she was reflecting and Rick because he was concentrating on seeing another shooting star so he could make a wish.

~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~

Alexis was happy. She had signed all the forms, been given all the keys, and even had all the maintenance forms that they had kept. She was positively beaming as she left the office.

"Well?" Andres asked her, surprising her by coming to pick her up.

"I got it. The Pegasus is mine." She dangled the keys from her fingers.

"I suppose you want to go see it now." He wasn't really guessing since he was betting she couldn't wait to set foot on it again.

Alexis brightened. "Can we, please?"

"Get in." He motioned to the passenger door and got in behind the wheel. "So what's first? Besides surveying your winnings," Andres inquired, teasing her a little.

"Well, they already had the bilge emptied and the sanitary holding tanks are empty. The water and propane tanks have been filled. If we want to go anywhere we need to fill it with fuel first. You wouldn't believe how much fuel or water it takes to fill the tanks. Or the propane." She had done her research it was just that now SHE had to worry about all that.

He glanced at her thoughtfully. "Having second thoughts?"

"NO! No… I guess it's just sinking in that I bought a place to live in. It's my first place. I've only ever lived with my dad before he died. I still live in the same place with my grandmother. It's a little scary, is all." Alexis realized that this was her first big purchase without her dad. She was doing things on her own without having him as a backup. She could always use him as a sounding board.

"Anything else?" Andres could swear there was more to it than that.

"I don't know what to do with my dad's other places." Keeping them was costing her money.

"Do you need them for school?" It was his roundabout way of asking if she was going back to New York to attend college instead of locally.

"No, I'm staying in the dorms. I wanted the full college experience. Which means having a roommate."

"So not the best roommate?"

She made a face. "Last year, no. But it's a new year so I get a new one." She was really hoping for someone better.

Andres took a nervous breath, offering his pitch to get her to stay. "I know you know this, but Nassau and greater Bahamas have colleges. Several in fact. The closest was founded in 1974 and offers bachelors degrees in all major courses of study. Yes, it only offers a master's degree in business and social studies, though no doctoral degrees. You might like it."

Of course she'd done her research. "I know, I looked it up. The University of Bahamas isn't all that far from here."

"Nassau is a small place. Anything you put your mind to, I know you'd succeed at it. You won't have all of New York City as your competition. …Not that you wouldn't still get the job," he added quickly.

Alexis smiled at him. "Nice save."

"Plus any college you chose, you now have a home. A home that moves with you," Andres went on to say.

Alexis was quiet as she thought things through. She'd bought the yacht mostly because her dad and Kate had lived here and she had wanted to be close to that. Even if they were almost 200 years apart. She had no intention of ever selling that land their house was on.

Had she just made a mistake? Looking at Andres, she knew that he was a good man and had her best interests at heart. She really did like him and was falling in love with him. He was clearly going to be successful as an architect and his business was here, not in New York.

"I need to talk to Grams." She suddenly had an idea. Nassau wasn't New York, but perhaps there was something here for all of them. And maybe she could work up the courage to tell her grandmother the truth. Maybe while standing in front of her dad and Kate's home. Her dad was her Grams' son and she missed him just as much. Maybe if she told her it would give them both something.

Andres held his tongue while he drove. He had made his pitch though he did have one card left to play. He just needed to figure out the perfect time to tell her what was in his heart, that he loved her and wanted her to stay.

~[o]~+~[o]~

"Where are we going, dear?" Alexis had come to fetch her and was being mysterious about it all.

"You're going to love it, just love it." Alexis was hoping she would anyway.

It was a bit of a drive based on where Martha was still staying. "And here we are. Just be yourself, Grams. You can do this." Alexis pushed her forward.

"Do what?" Martha didn't understand any of it. Then she saw a sign. **Casting Call!** She was ready to shoot her granddaughter.

"Knock'em dead, Grams. And break a leg. You'll do great. Go get 'em." Alexis gave her a nudge, forcing her up to the table and watched as Martha filled out the forms and went where she was told.

Alexis waited outside and found herself in the Void. "Naturally," she griped. "So who is it this time?" She had done this countless times since she'd been in the Bahamas.

"Hi, I'm your guide. If you'll follow me, please?" she asked the obviously older woman.

"Where am I?" She didn't recognize anything. Especially when there was nothing.

"It's called the Void. It's the space between where you were and were you need to be," Alexis explained for what felt like the millionth time.

"I was in Nassau. How did I get here?" She was so bewildered.

"Nassau? I'm presently living in Nassau with my boyfriend." Alexis was surprised since this was a first.

"Really? At first I was sure I didn't like it, but it grew on me over the years. Mama and Dad did all they could to get me to like it." Suddenly she stumbled and clutched her stomach.

"Easy, it'll pass." Alexis held her up and felt her pain. "Trust me, it'll pass."

"The pain… Oh, god, I died, didn't I?" She didn't want it to be true but she was starting to believe it.

"I'm here to help you from one life to your next. I'm sorry about the pain but it will pass. Tell me about your parents." Maybe it would take her mind off of her dying and the pain.

"I was born on an island in the Bahamas. I found out later in life that we didn't have much at the time, but I was happy. My parents did all they could. I was really little, I forget how old I was, but I was young. Dad made all these games for me and Mama made me a doll. It was just a bunch of sticks and twigs and tattered cloth. I remember I cried for days after I realized that I'd lost her in during the move." It sounded like such a stupid thing now.

Alexis stopped and looked out into the Void. "What were their names?" She was sure her heart was going to burst since it was beating so hard. Her charge might be old but Alexis was sure she could hear it beating.

"Rick and Kate. They were always just Mama and Dad to me. It hurt so very much after Dad died. Mama followed a few years later." She could still feel them like it was yesterday.

Alexis reached into the bag that was on her arm. She didn't know why she carried it around but she did. She pulled it out and showed it to her.

"ANNIE!" The lady snatched it from her and looked it over. "How did you get this?"

"You're Lily. _…You're_ _ **Lily**_ _."_ Alexis stared at her. "Your brothers are James and Levi. You were all born on Cat Island in the Bahamas. Mom and Dad built their home by hand." Alexis could feel the urge to keep walking; time was short. Even if time didn't matter in the Void.

"How do you know all that?" She didn't understand. She had never seen this woman before.

"I'm your sister." Alexis couldn't hold back the tears any longer. "We need to talk and I don't have much time." Alexis took her by the arm and started walking.

Lily listened to everything Alexis had to say. At first she was extremely skeptical. But she seemed to know her father and mother perfectly. She knew too much to be lying.

"You say I have to choose a door?"

"Everyone has a door that's theirs," Alexis explained patiently. "You walk through and start your new life."

"Will my dead husband and my children be on the other side?" She longed to see them again.

"I don't know what's on the other side for you. I do have an idea, though." Alexis had just thought it up. "I might be able to get them all to choose the same door. Maybe. I need their names," Alexis said quickly, seeing all but one of the doors vanish.

"My husband was Nathanial. My son was Richard, I named him after Dad. And my daughter was named Victoria. You say you're my sister?" Lily didn't see how.

Alexis nodded. "Yes, and I wish I had time to explain but you need to go through your door to your next life. The best I can do is to try and get Dad, Kate, your husband, and children to go through the same door. I've never tried this before so I don't know if it will work.

"Just so you know, I bought your house and a lot of the land it was on. I'm thinking of settling here," Alexis admitted for the first time.

"You have a beau." Lily didn't know why but she was happy for her.

"We've been seeing for a little while now. I'm sorry, Lily, but you need to go now. I'll do the best I can." Alexis feared they were taking too long. She turned to study her door and tried to memorize every detail.

"Sister," Lily smiled as she reached for the doorknob. "I wish we had more time, I'm filled with questions," the older woman said and opened the door.

"You and me both. However, I'm really happy to have met you. I promise to do what I can." Alexis watched as she walked through and looked back at her before closing the door.

"Goodbye, sister mine." Alexis's tears began again in earnest.


	12. Chapter 12

**Lost - 9**

 _It has been a number of years (I'm_ _mov_ _ing the story forward)_

"Where did the time go?" Kate gazed out onto the sand to see their three children all playing together. "Did you know that technically we have TWO teenagers." She truly wasn't groaning but she feared that she sounded like she was.

"You sound scared." Rick couldn't hide his smile. Especially since Alexis was a teenager, or was last he saw her.

"Based on my history…I'm petrified." Kate was sure all three were going to be rebels just like she had been.

He wasn't concerned. "You had a big city to visit and get in trouble in. What are they going to do? Ride their horses too hard? The beach isn't that long."

"Never underestimate the power of a teenager. I should know," Kate added softly.

"Oh, do tell." Rick was all ears.

"Not a chance, Castle. You may be my husband, even though we aren't technically married–"

Rick interrupted her, countering her claim. "YET!"

"Are you saying you'd marry me…still?" Kate asked almost far too quietly.

"In a heartbeat, love. I'm betting you don't want a huge wedding, but you do want a dress. The perfect dress. More flowers than any florist has. So much sunshine that the guests all get sunburns," he said, getting Kate to laugh.

"You're not far wrong. I don't want a huge wedding. Something nice and small and intimate with just close friends and family. Yes, I want a dress. Sunshine would be good." Kate kept dreaming for a moment. Then the sparkle left her eyes and she suddenly became very somber. "It's never going to happen. We're never leaving here. And…and I'm dead."

Rick grabbed her and gave her a little shake. "Listen to me, Kate. You are **not** dead. The second you went through that door you were as alive as you've ever been. Being here doesn't change that. We could be in Alaska or South Africa and it would still be the same. You're alive…and I love you."

"As for never leaving here. You're discounting the Castle luck." He was sure he had more than enough.

She began listing everything didn't have any more of, "Oh really? We're out of flour, rice, sugar–" but was stopped by Rick.

"You'd believe if you let yourself. I'll bet little Kate Beckett believed in luck." He was sure of it.

"Nope. Not luck, not Santa Claus, not–" She stopped when Rick interrupted her again.

"Don't even think that. Of course there's a Santa Claus." Kate was messing with his faith and that was disturbing.

"We don't have a chimney and I haven't seen a single Christmas present since we've been here," Kate snapped.

"Wow, you really are a hard case. I knew you were going to be a challenge." Rick wasn't going to give up. Not today and not tomorrow.

"What are they doing?" She pointed at their children. "Are they trying to kill themselves? Broken bones at the very least." She was working up to giving a vicious tongue lashing to all three of them.

Both of them watched all three of their children riding their horses as fast as they could. Right down the beach and then they turned on got into the soft sand where they were sitting. While they did slow down it wasn't because the horses weren't trying.

"Pirates?" Rick wondered. "Or is it aliens?" He tried again. "A tsunami?" He was running short of ideas which was good since they had almost reached them.

Lily jumped off her horse just like her mother had told her not to ever do again. Followed by James doing the same thing. Only Levi got off slower.

"MAMA, DAD!" Lily screamed. All three of them ran up to them. They were each huffing and puffing, much like their horses were doing.

Kate started her tongue lashing. "What do you three think you were doing? Didn't I tell you–"

Lily broke in, "There's a ship!"

"A big ship," James added and started pointing.

"Men!" Levi crowed, waving his arms excitedly.

"We saw it just at the bottom," Lily indicated. "It actually turned and started to come up this way."

James put in his two cents. "It chased us." He was sure they were after them.

"Pirates?" Rick looked at Kate since they had just been talking about such an encounter.

"How big?" Kate asked all three of them.

That had all three children looking at each other. "About the same size as the last ship," Lily said, meaning the last shipwreck that they had gotten a lot of supplies from.

"Two masts?" Rick used his hands to show really tall masts; his daughter nodded. "Likely a schooner then. Not really a pirate ship. Not enough guns."

"The last one was a war ship." Kate began looking past her children, out to sea.

"British, probably," Rick said since that was what the last one was.

"And if they **are** pirates?" Kate didn't like their options.

Rick thought about it. Kate's fishing spears were back at home. His pig hunting weapons were at the same place. "It'll take them time to get here. More time to lower a boat and row to shore. The boat can only hold so many." He kept running over their options in his head. "Gorilla warfare. We hit and run." He didn't see any other option.

"Get back on your horses and ride back the way you came, only on the other side of the island. You don't come out until you hear us calling for you," Kate instructed her children.

Lily hated that idea. "Mama…"

"Do **not** argue with me! Get on your horse and go hide. Don't come out until we tell you to. **MOVE!** " Kate wasn't putting up with dissent from any of them.

"Yes, ma'am." Lily sounded dejected.

"Yes, Mom." James sounded just as dejected. Levi didn't say anything. He simply followed his older sister and brother.

Kate and Rick watched them ride away, not nearly as fast as they got here. She turned to Rick. "Now what?" She wanted to hear his plan.

"We get our weapons and watch them come ashore. Then we lead them in the opposite direction. Run in, throw a weapon, and run away." He was thinking of repeating their actions as long as they had weapons.

"They might have guns," she cautioned.

"You mean like those dueling pistols?" he inquired, then reminded her, "They couldn't hit the broadside of a barn." He wasn't that worried about them.

Kate started smiling since she remembered they hit everything on the firing range except the target. "Fifty versus two, though?" She didn't like the odds.

"More like eight at most versus two. A schooner's too small to have more than one boat. Just turn on badass Beckett and fight for your children. There's nothing more dangerous than a mother defending her kids…or a dad." Rick was losing his family over his dead body.

"Let's go." Rick began running for home to get weapons with Kate right next to him.

~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~

"MAMA!" Lily hated it.

"DAD!" James and Levi were right behind her with their complaints.

"We're going to a city. People there wear clothes so you will, too." Even Kate was finding the clothes she was wearing to be weird.

James tried one more time. "Dad?"

Rick had to admit that it felt funny. However, he also saw the look Kate was giving him. She was right. They'd been rescued and were headed for civilization, if you could call 1836 civilized. He got behind Kate and gave her some support. "Yes, you have to wear them. Wait until you find out about shorts, socks, and shoes," he said softly. All three of which none of them were wearing.

"If you are ready?" Lieutenant Pound asked since his men were ready to push their boat out to sea to get to their ship.

It had Rick and Kate looking back. They were rescued but somehow it didn't feel like it. This was home. They had sweated and bled to build it. The horses and goats had been released to go back to roaming wild. They had so very little that it took up almost no space on the boat. Rick had considered bringing some of the games he had made for the kids over the years. But they weren't worth it.

The lieutenant hadn't even wanted any of the food that they had. Neither Rick nor Kate had gone hunting for the day so they didn't have any fish or pig or any other meat.

"Yes, sir," Rick finally answered and helped Levi get in the boat before stepping in himself.

All of them watched their home slowly get farther away as they got closer and closer to the ship.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Kate found Rick far forward after she left her dejected children. "What are you thinking? They aren't happy about this." Kate meant their children.

"He said they were headed for some place called New Town. It's where he plans to drop us off. After that I don't know. It's 1836 which means we got here in 1821. I think the biggest city at the time was Nassau. If we can find a way to get there we can decide what to do. Nassau isn't that far from the Florida coast. We could try to go there."

Kate thought about it. "1836 in the States. Isn't our Civil War in a few years?"

Rick confirmed what she was thinking. "April, 1861. Though technically it started before that; that was the first battle."

"I'm not sure I want to be there for that." She didn't like what she had read or the pictures they had taken of it.

"James will be 25 by then. The perfect age for a soldier on either side. Maybe even an officer." Rick could easily see it happening.

"Rick, no! The medical care back then was nonexistent. Even if he doesn't die, he might lose a leg or an arm. Please, no," Kate begged him. She didn't want that for her children.

He tried to recall his history. "California in 1836 was having battles with Mexico. The Alamo was in 1836."

"GOD!" Kate leaned against him. Maybe they should have said no and stayed on their island.

"Little Big Horn was in 1876," Rick mentioned, since just getting to California was probably dangerous.

"What do we do? Should we have stayed?" Kate didn't like any of it.

"You said it yourself, Kate. We were at the end of our rope. We had no choice but to leave."

She sighed as she leaned against him. "So what's in Nassau? Is it safer?"

"Define safer." They were headed for civilization that wasn't all that civilized.

"What do we do? Being a homicide detective is out. How do we live?" Did Rick have a plan?

Rick tried to think. "If we can save up enough money we might be able to buy into a rail company. Railroads made good money. Or maybe a shipping company. I think Waterford Steam Company starts somewhere around now. The New York Stock Exchange started in 1817, I think." He thought they had options. They just needed money to make money.

"Top stocks in 1836?"

Rick tilted his head as if that would help him remember. "The first Kodak camera was in 1900."

"What?" Kate was sure she could see his gears turning.

"If I'm right, the Bahamas did a lot of trade with the South during the Civil War. As far as the North was concerned, it was illegal. But people who did it made a fortune by getting the South to pay them an enormous amount of money.

"From 1861 until 1865, the boom and bust economy of the Islands of the Bahamas was enjoying an enormous boom as a result of the American Civil War. Great Britain's textile industry depended on southern cotton, so it favored the Confederacy. However, British ships couldn't reach southern ports because the Union was blockading them. To gain access to this precious import, blockade runners in sleek, fast boats would travel the 560 miles from Charleston to Nassau with loads of cotton. There, they would meet up with British vessels and trade their cotton for the goods that the British ships carried. Returning to Charleston, the blockade runners would sell their shipments at a huge profit." Rick loved being able to remember most everything he read.

Kate had long since learned to trust his memory. "So, bootleggers?" She thought she understood.

"Actually that comes later when prohibition starts. The same blockade runners would sell Bahamian rum for a huge profit." The Bahamas did really well during both times in history.

"Railroads and steam ships." Kate thought it sounded safer for all of them.

He pointed out the primary problem. "We need money to make money."

"So we'll be frugal. We've been living with almost nothing, we can make do with a little bit of money to make more." Kate didn't see a problem.

"Except now we'll need to buy clothes, buy our food, and pay for other things like a place to live. Horses to get around with." Rick saw an endless list.

"So where do we start?"

"We play it by ear, I guess. Look around and decide what best suits us. We're back to what we needed when we first got there."

"Food, water, and shelter." Kate knew that. "Play it by ear." They could do that.

"Something to keep in mind is everything costs a lot less than you remember. An empty barrel is 30 cents, for example. Most people made between $3 and $5 a week," Rick reminded her.

"So we're frugal. It may take a few years before we can invest in a steam ship company."

"Actually if we want a lot of money we need to invest in speed boats to be blockade runners in a few years. One for me, James, and Levi."

"You think Lily is going to want to be left out? And what about me?" Kate was strong and unafraid.

"You do remember the illegal part," he reminded her and was promptly the recipient of one of her glares. "Five boats are going to be expensive," he warned, watching her stare at him. "Frugal, okay, got it."

"We need jobs first." Kate knew that much.

~[o]~+~[o]~

"Stop fidgeting." Kate moved Lily's hands away from the clothes she was wearing.

"But I don't like them!" Lily whined and continued fidget only to have Kate move her hands again.

Lily whined a little louder and more forcefully. "Do I have to?"

"Yes, you have to. I know we can't afford much yet but you can't go naked." Kate tried to adjust something and failed.

Lily proceeded to point out a truth. "Why not? I used to go naked all the time."

"Because this is Nassau and we're not on a tiny island all alone any longer. Clothes are a must." Kate then pointed out another truth. "Your dad and I are wearing clothes." Though she didn't think much of what either one of them were wearing. It was just that everything so far had been free. They were all hand-me-downs and worn by at least one other person if not two. Including their shoes.

"Can I at least not wear these things?" Lily lifted a foot to show off her shoes.

"At home, yes, at school, no. Now go show them how smart you are." Kate turned her around and marched her out the door where she came upon Rick with James and Levi already outside and dressed.

She watched the four of them walk away then went back inside. "She's trying to kill me." Kate let her head bang up against a wall for a moment. After that, she moved to their tiny kitchen and started cleaning up.

Clothes hadn't been the only problem so far. Food had been another issue. Kate had wanted everyone to start eating better so everyone had to begin eating fruit. So far that had been more hit and miss. What Lily liked, James hated. What James liked, Levi hated.

Kate looked around. They had just the one room. They sat here, they ate here, they slept here. Five people in one small room. At least for now it was free. A local church had found it for them.

The toilet and shower were outside. It had Kate laughing the second she saw it. "A real outhouse." They'd had a trench that Rick had managed to dig for them to do their business in; it wasn't enclosed. The shower here had walls but it was outside as well.

Kate turned to see what she could do while the kids were gone. They all had a few clothes compliments of the same church. All of it was laying on each person's bed. She started smiling when her eyes fell on their bed.

It was a twin mattress, a real mattress like all the others, that was on the floor. Kate was practically sleeping ON Castle because of all the space he took up. What they needed were jobs.

Kate was still adjusting everything when Rick came back. "How did it go?" she inquired as he moved over to one of the three chairs they had and plopped down. "That bad?"

"Lily wanted to take her clothes off–" he began only to have Kate interrupt him.

"Oh, god." She thought she had gotten through to Lily that clothes were necessary.

"Yeah, then James started taking his shoes off and after all that time I took to get him and Levi dressed. I've worried about a whole lot of things, this just wasn't one of them." Rick leaned back in the chair.

Kate sat down next to him. "I never thought clothes would be such a big deal. I talk and I talk to her and she just wants to be naked. I hope they aren't all naked when you go back to get them." She didn't know what to do if they were.

"Is this the Rebel Becks part you warned me about?" Rick asked, half teasing.

"I hope not because if it is, we're both in big trouble." Kate started shaking her head as she remembered what she had put her parents through. "This is the part where I'm glad my mother isn't here. She wouldn't resist rubbing it in."

"What goes around comes around," Rick grinned. Kate laughed.

"So which one of our three is Alexis? One of them has to be sensible." At least Kate hoped so. Rick had done so well with her.

"They all take after their mother," he remarked, he was sure of it. Alexis was one of a kind.

Kate let her head fall to the table. "We are **so** screwed."

Rick looked for even a tiny bit of hope. "You couldn't have been that bad."

Kate talked to the table top. "I haven't told you a fraction of the things I did."

"You make it sound like she'll be pregnant by the time she's sixteen." Which was only a year from now.

She quickly sat back up. "Over my dead body! Which might actually happen. I've died twice now, what's one more time." She began to laugh a little wildly.

"Over **my** dead body." Rick wasn't losing her; he leaned across to kiss her. He wasn't in the Void now, he wouldn't be able to go through the same door with her next time.


	13. Chapter 13

**Lost - 10**

Smiling, Alexis walked into the trailer and found Andres and the others talking.

"Alexis, what are you doing here?" Andres had given her his Jeep and had asked her to drive him down to the dock where work was well under way for its remodel and small expansion.

"I brought lunch." Alexis lifted up the box she was carrying. "For everyone." She had brought eight lunches and since there were only five in the trailer, she knew she'd gotten enough.

"I like her; you don't want her just let me know." One of the guys grinned and started pawing through the box to get first pick.

Andres kissed her quickly and then began rummaging through the box for his selection. Alexis chose last, not caring what they'd left her.

"So what exactly are you doing to this place?" Andres had been rather tight-lipped about it so this was also a quest for answers.

"You haven't told her?" One of the guys was sure at the very least he'd discussed it during pillow talk. "Well most of the buildings are connected and have a roof but not all of them. This part here will solve that. Then this section is where all of the guests come to check in and walk to their ship.

"Only the check in is covered right now. We're going to fix that. We're taking the idea used for boarding an airplane for people to get from the dock up to the boarding deck.

"Then down here we're going to expand this dock so that we can add another ship. That will mean another area like this one here, down there." He pointed to each section.

"We planned for this dock to be dredged so that it would be deep enough for yet another cruise ship. That idea has been put on hold pending a complete analysis of what the implications will be to the surrounding area. With our luck some nearly extinct worm will be found and that'll kill the entire idea." That extra dock meant work for him and his men so he wanted it.

"Worms have a right to live, too," Alexis teased and tried to hide her smile.

"On the end of my fishing pole, yes. Putting an end to this project, no." He fell for it hook, line, and sinker. "Ohh." Then he started pointing at her. "You've got your hands full with her." He started smiling at the pain he was thinking was coming Andres' way.

"You're just jealous because your wife didn't make you lunch this morning," Andres snarked back.

"So when's the wedding?" he teased and caught Andres choking on his bite.

Alexis glared at Andres. "He hasn't asked me yet." Andres would have been dead if her daggers had been real.

"I… I…" Andres didn't know what to say. The room erupted in laughter at his expense.

Still smiling, Alexis left half an hour later, her lips still tingling from the kiss Andres had given her. She was also smiling at the face he'd had for the remainder of lunch.

She got out her cell phone. "Hi, Grams, got a minute?" Alexis wanted to share Andres' embarrassment with her.

"Not until 4:00, dear. We're still trying to get ready for our first show. The next session for me isn't for another three days then we have opening night."

"Four o'clock. I'll be there. See you later." Alexis hung up. Since she couldn't talk to her and Andres was at work _and_ her own school classes didn't start for another week, she drove to the marina where her ship was moored.

Alexis parked and started walking. Once she reached her ship she fished out her keys and went inside. In this area it looked like nothing had changed and actually nothing had. But after she went up the stairs to get to the master bedroom, that was where things were different.

The layout of the walls hadn't changed, but what was on them had. As had the floors. Though that was only partially true. There had been a wall restructured. It had been to get the washer and dryer out of the bedroom.

A new, slightly off-white floor had been laid. The white chairs had stayed along with the bed itself. All of the walls were white. The windows now had a dark mahogany trim. The existing cabinets had been refaced with the same dark mahogany.

The headboard had been expanded to include the entire wall and it was encased in the same dark mahogany. Even the ceiling had been changed to include the white and dark mahogany trim.

That wasn't where it had stopped, though. The bathroom had been remodeled as well. A new ceramic tile that looked like expensive Cararra marble had been laid on the floor. Under it was a floor warming system that kept the tile warm underfoot.

The old tub had been been replaced by a jetted tub that had a glass front with blue lighting buried inside it. The shower stall had the same tile as the floor and now had multiple body sprays. The floating vanity had vessel sinks with touchless faucets.

Next up was to remodel the next largest bedroom and bathroom. So far she hadn't decided on a design for it. She was presently leaning toward something found in Hawaii or the Caribbean. After that would be the other two small bedrooms and bathrooms, however, they could wait.

Alexis went into the closet which had also undergone a major renovation. She stripped, threw everything into the hamper, and began spinning one of the two shelving units until she found what she wanted.

Alexis put on the bikini, chose a pair of flip flops, and headed upstairs. Up there was another change. She had wanted a larger one, but she was told that the existing structure couldn't support the weight, so she had settled for the smallest Jacuzzi that they had.

It had built-in lighting and music. Alexis turned it on, went over to the wine cooler and pulled out a bottle, then started working on opening it. She poured herself a glass and picked up the papers her researcher had left her before stepping in and relaxing while she read.

The names Lily had given her led to an explosion of information for the researcher. She had information on her husband and her children. She had names for each of their children and even had names for each of their children.

He was still working on any living relatives, but at least he had a couple of leads. There was also a little background for each person. Mostly what they did for a living and if he knew, where they had lived exactly and for how long.

Alexis put the paperwork to one side and relaxed while sipping her wine. That was until her cell phone rang. "Yes." She saw the ID and was interested in what he had found now.

"Ms. Castle, I've found the grave markers for Richard Kravitz and Katherine Kravitz. I really think you should come down here and see for yourself," he urged.

Alexis sat up quickly and almost spat out her wine. "What?" She looked around and tried to think. "Text me the address and I'll be right there." Alexis hung up on him. She needed that address to plug into her GPS if she was going to find the place. Nassau might not be that big, but that didn't mean she knew where everything was.

She hurriedly shut down the hot tub and ran back downstairs to find a wrap and a pair of tennis shoes and socks. Grabbing her purse, she ran to Andres' Jeep and began driving, hoping that she didn't get pulled over for speeding.

She found him standing out front. "Show me." Alexis couldn't wait and started walking. She had to make a hard turn to follow him.

He stopped and pointed.

 _ **Loving Husband and Father**_

 _ **May the Magic Never Die**_

 _ **Richard Kravitz - Castle**_

 _ **I Love You, Alexis**_

Alexis clapped a hand over her mouth as the tears began to fall. Next to it she found another one.

 _ **Loving Wife and Mother**_

 _ **He Gave Me Magic**_

 _ **Vincit Omnia Veritas**_

 _ **Katherine Kravitz - Beckett**_

 _ **Love You, Dad**_

Alexis was scarcely able to stand as the tears flowed. She barely saw him pointing at the next one. Trembling, she stepped over to read the stone.

 _ **Loving Wife and Mother**_

 _ **Lily Mar**_ _ **tha**_ _ **Kravitz - Adams**_

Then she watched him move and point again. She stumbled over to look at it.

 _ **Loving Son**_

 _ **Loving Husband and Father**_

 _ **James Cosmo Kravitz - Castle**_

Alexis didn't need his help as she shuffled to the last one.

 _ **Loving Son**_

 ** _Loving Husband and Father_**

 _ **Levi Alexander Kravitz - Castle**_

Alexis finally couldn't remain standing; her legs gave out and she dropped to her knees. She had found her dad, Kate, and their children. Her family was buried here.

He looked puzzled. "I don't understand why there are no dates."

Alexis looked at the markers again and saw that he was right. There were no dates. "They lived outside of time. They didn't need dates." Besides, how could her dad and Kate put down that they were born 200 hundred years before they died? Lily, James, and Levi could have dates and it left her wondering why they didn't. Surely they knew what year they were born and what year they had died?

In any event, she'd found them. Alexis looked up at him and could barely make him out through the tears that no amount of wiping away seemed to help. "Find the rest of them. There has to be someone living." She had living relatives around here somewhere.

"Yes, Ms. Castle. Perhaps after I do, you'll explain." He didn't understand the names. Why did all of them have Castle on the end except Katherine? Even more perplexing was why his client's name was on one of them. "I will do my best."

Alexis didn't see him leave and just sat there until the tears stopped. Then she made up her mind. It was time. She got up, climbed back in the Jeep, and drove off. She was forced to wait, but she didn't mind. It was worth it. Though she did worry a little.

Alexis wrapped her arms around her the moment she came out. "Alexis…what's happened?" Her first fear was that she and Andres had broken up. Andres was good for her. Alexis had stayed and transferred her credits to the University of Bahamas so that she could stay with him.

Martha had even gotten out of her what her plan was now. "I'm happy for you, dear. You should tell your friend, Lanie. Maybe she can write a letter for you. Help you get your first job."

"Get in, Grams. I have something to show you and something to tell you." Alexis had decided that it was time to come clean. She just hoped that it didn't cost her her job. She had a dream and to make that dream come true she had to keep her job in the Void.

~[o]~+~[o]~

"A cemetery?" Martha couldn't even begin to understand why they were there.

"Just come with me." Alexis took her down various rows until she reached the markers.

"Why are we here?" Martha didn't know anyone that could possibly be buried there. Until she followed Alexis here a few months ago she had never stepped foot in the Bahamas.

Alexis pointed at the head stones. "Just read, Grams," she said to her.

Alexis heard her inhale sharply and saw her place a hand over her mouth after reading her dad's marker. Her hand never moved but Alexis was sure she had stopped breathing and she didn't blame her.

"I don't…understand." Martha found it hard to get the words out. She reread the marker with her son's name on it. None of this made any sense to her.

"I have something to tell you. I'm truly sorry for keeping it a secret but I didn't think I had a choice." She still feared that her days in the Void were about to end.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Alexis had never thought her heart could hurt like this. Her dad might be gone but at least she knew he wasn't dead. Well, not dead like he was now, since to her he really wasn't, yet.

It was just that Martha was sitting on the ground, reaching out to the marker, crying heavily. She had never seen her grandmother cry like this before over anything. She had tried to explain that Rick was dead, but not really dead or not that dead. But she feared Martha had stopped listening by that point.

"Grams?" It was her fault. All her fault and it hurt. It hurt a lot. When she didn't recognize her, Alexis just stood there and let her own tears fall. Not because of the markers, though that was bad enough, but because of what it had done to her grandmother.

It felt like forever and yet it wasn't. "Dad chose to go with Kate, Grams. He loved her and Kate was dead. It was his only chance. They lived a life back then that they couldn't have now. I have all of the information about them back on the ship. You can read it, all of it, over and over again if you want."

Now Alexis was glad she had spent the money to chase down her father and Kate. Finding genealogical knowledge from 200 years ago had likely been hard on her guy. Thankfully he had come through and she was grateful for that. She had something she could show her grandmother. Give her a glimpse of the life he had had with Kate.

"They had children, Grams. Your grandchildren. I don't have pictures…" Then a thought hit her. "Pictures." She could have taken a picture of Lily when she'd seen her in the Void. Provided a camera even worked there. "I just have data and it's not a whole lot." Actually it was very little.

Alexis didn't even really know when they'd died. How old any of them were. Based on what Lily looked like she was guessing that perhaps she was in her early to late 70s. She never was that good at guessing ages of people. Plus maybe back then people looked older because they had to work harder.

"Grams." Alexis got down on her knees and tried to get her to look at her. "I miss him, too." She only knew where he was, she hadn't actually seen him. Not since… God, was it really that long ago?

"Please." Alexis was starting to fall apart and her own crying only increased. This wasn't how this was supposed to have played out. Alexis had hoped that the knowledge would have helped. Not do this.

Still Martha turned to look at her and Alexis and all she saw was the pain of it all on her granddaughter's face.

Martha reached inside for her steely resolve of a Rodgers. "A life with Katherine?" Her voice sounded cracked from all the crying but it was the most Alexis had gotten out of her for some time.

Alexis nodded. "As best I know from 1821 to I don't know when. It was what Dad wanted. It was his only chance. Kate was dead, Grams. Really dead." Surely she could see that.

Martha breathed in deeply and let it out slowly. It helped a little. "And now you're doing what your father did. This…Void. A path to a next life." That alone helped her a little. The knowledge that after she died there would be a next life.

Alexis nodded again. "It's like nothing you've ever seen. I just hope I still get to do it. I wasn't told not to tell anyone, but it feels like something that I was supposed to keep secret. From everyone." Alexis really feared that she had screwed up, all with the intent of helping her grandmother.

"I love you, you needed to know. …I had to." Alexis let her head fall forward. If the Void was lost to her now, she at least knew it was for a good cause.

Alexis didn't hear what Martha said next since she suddenly found herself in the Void. At first she was happy. She was in the Void and she obviously had someone to help find their way. It was just that when she looked around she saw. "You!" She was certain he was here to deliver the bad news.

"I'm here to keep my part of our deal," he told her.

"So you're not firing me for telling Grams?" It was all she cared about at the moment.

"No," he answered quietly yet firmly. "It was an unspoken rule. My mistake. I believe you know better now." Alexis took it to mean that she had one more chance to not screw up.

"YES, Yes. I promise I won't tell anyone else." Alexis crossed her heart and zipped her mouth closed. Then she saw a 3D movie just like all of the other times. This one didn't really make any sense at first, either.

She was watching five boats race across the water. It wasn't until he zoomed in that she could make out who was piloting one of them. "Dad, Kate, Lily, James and Levi are all onboard. What are they doing?" It didn't make any sense to her.

Alexis walked around it to get a good look. Each was a good-sized ship with the one the Castles were in being substantially larger than the others. For the most part, though, they were identical. There were two masts that presently didn't have sails. There were paddle wheels on either side in the middle of the ship and a big smokestack between the two masts, belching out smoke. Based on the amount of water being churned up behind them she was guessing that they were really moving fast.

"What are they doing?" She didn't get it but was pleasantly surprised when he answered her question.

"Blockade running," was his short answer.

"Do they die here?" She knew Lily didn't since the Lily she saw now was much younger than the one she'd guided to the doors.

"Not yet." And then he disappeared.

"WHERE ARE THEY LIVING?" She had a good idea, but maybe he knew more.

Her movie was replaced with what looked like a picture. It was a three story house with the image looking at the end of it. Two windows on the bottom, three in the middle and two more on the third. It was right next to a street. There was a porch with a large balcony on the second floor above it. It looked like there was another house just like it next to it on the far side. On this side was an empty lot.

There were houses a lot like it across the street from it and other, different houses down the street. Right before the vacant lot she saw a gate which meant that area was enclosed. Just how much property did her dad and Kate own?

Then suddenly it was gone and Alexis knew that was all she was going to get for this year. But at least there was going to be a next year. However, now she knew for certain to keep the Void a secret. And if her plan was going to have any chance of success, she needed to keep it a secret.

Alexis found herself back in front of Martha like she'd never left. "You can't tell a soul, Grams. Please. If Dad's going to have any hope for a future, you can't tell anyone…no one, not ever." Alexis knew her grandmother was terrible at keeping secrets. She just hoped she understood she had to keep this one.


	14. Chapter 14

**Lost - 11**

"MAMA!" Lily moaned as Kate worked at hooking Lily into her corset before school. "Please!" Lily wanted out of these clothes or at the very least, most of them.

"I have a question for you, sweetheart. Say I send you to school naked–" Kate didn't make it any further.

"YES!" She began to undo what Kate was doing.

Kate ticked off a number of things that would happen if she did. "If you go to school naked all of the kids will laugh at you. They will make jokes about you. They will never, ever talk to you again. They will talk behind your back. They will throw things at you. You will be an outcast.

"No friends at all. Even your brothers will suffer. You dad and I will never be able to find work. What you do reflects on our entire family. I know you know all these words and what they mean. You're smart. Probably smarter than anyone else in your class.

"You will be reviled and that will never, ever change. …Do you see me or your dad going naked? We live in a society now, Lily. We need to fit in. Even if one day we live in a big house, we have almost everything we could ever want. We will all still be wearing clothes."

Lily just stood there. Had she listened to what she said at all? "So deal with it!" Kate went back to clothing her.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Kate was tidying the room when Rick came charging in. "What happened?" She just knew it was one of the kids and it was bad news.

He was winded since he had run all the way home. "The school lost one of their teachers and they're desperate. I offered you," he panted.

"ME!?" Had he lost his mind? Except he was nodding his head.

"First grade. You start as soon as I can get you there. Meaning now. As soon as you get dressed for school," Rick huffed, hoping she'd caught every word.

She thought about it. "First grade, you say?"

"We home schooled our kids until we got here. Now you can teach others. So get dressed." Rick saw it as a job that paid money. Something they had none of. Everything they had including the food they were eating had been donated. This would go a long way toward eliminating that.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Kate walked home from school with her children and they were all chatting animatedly. She was happy and that seemed to make all the others happy. Even Lily wasn't giving her any trouble.

They were still happy and talking when they got home. "How did it go?" Rick inquired worriedly as Lily started unhooking the front of her corset. That cursed thing had to come off even if all the rest of her clothes didn't.

"It went very well. The kids were great. The other teachers were so nice. Probably because they didn't have to do it. It was easy. I'm not sure about my wages, though. It's kind of low but then everything in this time costs so much less."

"We're going to need a lot more money if we're going to do what you talked about." Her pay wasn't going to get them much.

"I have an idea about that. I just need to find him. They didn't know where he was today but should be in tomorrow." Rick had a lead. Though he didn't know what it paid, either.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Kate came home with Lily, James, and Levi in tow and found Rick in their room with a two inch thick stack of paper, writing furiously.

"What's Dad doing?" Levi didn't understand as Lily and Kate worked together at getting their corsets off.

Kate broke into a smile. "He's writing." She'd never thought she could be happier but seeing Rick doing what he was born to do made her heart sing.

"Writing what?" Levi didn't see that there was anything to write about and certainly not at the rate Rick was doing. Then they heard him curse and watched him drop a pencil that joined others and picked up another one.

"Mom?" His dad had said a bad word. A word he had been told he couldn't say.

"Just let him write. It looks like dinner is up to me tonight." Kate tossed her corset onto their bed and turned to their tiny kitchen. She frowned. "Which means I need to go shopping since we have nothing."

"Put your corset back on, lovey, we're going to go look for what we can get to make dinner with." Kate hadn't been paid yet for teaching and Rick hadn't either; neither of them had any money. It meant going back to the church to see what they were offering.

"AW, MAMA!" Putting that thing back on was the last thing she wanted to do.

"That or starve and since we will be cooking, the smell alone will make your stomach growl. So get started." Kate picked hers up and began hooking the front together while pulling. "Lily." She hadn't moved an inch yet.

"Take James with you. He's wearing clothes," Lily whined, not moving.

"You really want to eat only what _he_ likes?" Kate knew that would motivate her.

"Hey, what I like is good!" James insisted.

"FINE!" Lily picked up the corset that she'd just taken off and hooked it back up again, muttering under her breath. The things she did just to be able to eat something.

They were both later walking home with what they could find. "What exactly are you making with this?" Lily hadn't been impressed with what was available. Yes, they had some fish, however, the fish itself didn't look anything like the fish her mom caught.

"Imagination," Kate answered absently, her mind busily trying to come up with something reasonably tasty. But she had no idea yet. The selection had been small since it was free. And it had been free mostly because a lot of it was spoiling and this was the best Kate could find.

"Maybe your dad's done writing." Kate knew Rick was the better cook. She didn't think she was bad, just that she still didn't have a lot of practice.

~[o]~+~[o]~

"So are you going to explain, Castle?" Kate asked as they were eating. The kids were sitting at the table while they were sitting on their bed.

"I found him. If he likes it and it does well, he knows someone in the business. I might get published again if I can get this right." Rick was determined and he was a little surprised that the words were coming easily. Given how long since he had written anything, it felt good.

Kate forked a little fish and some potato. "So what are Nikki and Rook doing this time?" She took a bite.

"No Nikki and no Rook. This is different."

"Aliens?" Kate questioned; he shook his head. She fired off some of the lettered agencies. "CIA, NSA, FBI?" Rick smiled while shaking his head.

"You're not writing about our time at the 12th, are you?" She didn't think that was going to sell.

He gave her a hint. "Nope, something completely different this time."

"Not a mystery, not aliens, and not our previous life. …I give up, what?" What else was there that could get him interested in writing?

"A children's book. I'm thinking about an entire series. Each one will be different. Starting at kindergarten and working my way to fare for older children. The older books might be more mystery." He hadn't worked that out just yet.

Kate thought about it and took a guess. "You're going to write about our children."

"Sort of. About them and Alexis along with some of her babysitters. What it takes to grow up and be the best you can be. Naturally there will be challenges along the way and some parents are going to be better than others.

"I might even have one parent be a serial killer. That one is going to be a more grown-up book, though." Rick was thinking Jerry Tyson for that one, only he would be married and trying to hide what he was.

"Just don't use our names." Kate leaned across to kiss his cheek. "What's it pay?"

"A little better than you make, though not by much. But that's just for the first book. The better they do, the more I make." It wasn't like his contract with Black Pawn. The times were different.

"Can you do it with no computer?" Kate was worried about that.

"It'll be like before I had my first book deal. Back when my mother and I lived where we could. This feels a lot like those times." To Rick it felt like going back in time.

"I forget you didn't always have money." Kate leaned in closer. "If I find a blonde bimbo on your arm I really will shoot you." Just as soon as she found a gun.

Rick simply smiled; he had no intention of repeating those years. "Duly noted." He kissed her cheek.

"Mama, may we go down by the wharf where it's cooler?" Lily asked. The children had finished eating and were bored.

"Put your corset back on and you all can go. Stay out of trouble!"

Even though she had to wear the hated undergarment, Lily smiled. Anything to get out of that little room!

~[o]~+~[o]~

"How are the boys? Lily's driving me crazy!" Kate just knew her daughter was going to be the death of her.

"They're better with some things than with others." Rick turned it back on her. "What about you?"

"Lily has a point, much as I hate to admit it. Just so long as it doesn't get hot here I'm good. Otherwise I'm going to bake under all this." She couldn't believe the amount of cloth that enveloped her. Not to mention the corset. "Whoever invented the corset should be shot. It definitely wasn't a woman." Kate was sure of it.

"Roxey Ann Caplin."

"Who?"

"Roxey Ann Caplin. She designed the modern corset," Rick said.

"I think I lost my appetite." Kate stopped eating for a moment. But only for a moment, she was hungry. It was bad enough that in this time that women were little more than slaves, but to have women do this to themselves. She shook her head in disgust.

~[o]~+~[o]~

 _We jump forward a little more (You'll get used to it)_

"How we doing?" Kate inquired as Rick went over their books.

"It's another 10 years before the start of the Civil War. Unfortunately I don't actually know when blockade runners start. We had to move when you got your first paycheck so we had to pay for that. We buy clothes–"

She interrupted him. "Don't even mention that word." She sank into the chair next to him.

"Lily, still?" Rick had thought Kate would have gotten to her by now.

"First she wanted to go naked, now she wants the best when she goes out on dates. You know how many corsets she owns now?" Initially she couldn't get her to put one on, now she wouldn't be caught dead without one. Kate rolled her eyes.

"James and Levi haven't found girls yet…I think. James doesn't tell me anything. He's the exact opposite of Alexis." Rick couldn't believe the difference. It mostly proved just how lucky he had been with her.

Kate tapped the books so that his attention was back on what she had asked.

"Right, money. We've been penny-pinching for a while. If we had to we might be able to purchase The Seagar."

Her eyebrows shot up. She'd seen it. "That wreck!" Surely they could do better.

"We have another 10 years, if not a little more. We're actually making more money now than we did a year ago. If we're careful we should be right on track." Rick could see it, he just hoped they got there.

Kate got up and kissed his head. "Just don't stop writing, Rick. We need your money." He made considerably more than she did.

"Any idea what ship you want?" What they might be able to afford might not even be here yet.

"Just the biggest you can find. Remember we have more lessons this weekend." Kate kissed his head again and walked away. She had things to do. "Oh, and one of us should learn how to handle and repair a steam engine. The fastest ships will be steam powered. I know we're going to need to hire crew but one of us should know something."

"Guess that leaves James since Lily is a girl. And before you start–"

Kate jumped in. "I'm well aware of what women are thought of in this time. It'll probably take the rest of my life to get that jerk to see me as anything else. Thank god I'm not married to him. I pity his wife." She was ready to shoot him.

"Have you thought about a summer job yet? School doesn't last all year." Those were the times that hurt their plan the most.

"That would hire a woman? …No." Kate leaned against the door jamb. The options were limited and her experience didn't give her an advantage with any of them. "You think I could set up a gym and teach people how to kick someone's ass. It's been a little while, but it's like riding a bike. How hard could it be?"

She saw the look on his face. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"This is my shocked face, not my you-can't-do-that face. You know if you beat Samuel in a fair match they just might listen to you. If you think you can take him," Rick teased.

Kate was all set to say, _"With_ _my_ _eyes closed and one hand tied behind_ _my_ _back."_ But Sam was bigger than Rick was. "He might be a challenge." She started to picture him and what it would take to beat him. "Am I allowed to break his sexist bones? Starting with his big mouth?" She could see it now.

"That's my girl. Let me know what you need. Brass knuckles, maybe?" He grinned. This was more the Kate that he remembered.

"I don't need to cheat to kick his pompous ass. I'll let you know." She walked away and began to think of ways to start a fight without getting into trouble. The issue was it needed to be public so that everyone saw him lose – to a girl.

Then she started to think of ways to do it while not wearing a corset. She turned back. "You don't think this will hurt Lily, will it? No, of course not. …How far away is the doctor?" Kate asked while walking away again.

"I'd pay money to watch that." Rick smiles broadly then had an idea. "Maybe a bet will get us the money we need." He began his own planning.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Kate hadn't really thought this through all those years ago when they'd had this idea. "We shouldn't be doing this, Castle."

Rick was standing at the wheel while looking out and over at the two ships to each side. "Afraid we're too old for this?" he asked; he was beginning to feel his age.

"No, not that." That wasn't what she was thinking, but now that he had mentioned it… "We're not kids anymore and neither are they." Kate waved her arm at where their children were helping the crew.

"All three are married and have families of their own. What if this ends badly?" She'd fought this battle already and had lost. All three of them had argued that they were coming even if she didn't like it.

"I seem to recall we've already had this talk," Rick said mildly.

"Yeah, I know." Kate hung her head. "This is the last one." She may have lost this time but she wasn't losing next time if there wasn't a next time.

"For us or for them?" Rick asked as he watched the other four ships start falling behind them. They weren't as big or as fast as their ship. He was rather proud of the ship that they had managed to afford. The other four ships were standard size for the day and yet theirs was twice their size. The other four only had one smoke stack while they had two.

"Don't forget we're out here because of James." Rick couldn't be more proud of his son. He had turned into a very capable engineer. It was his ability to put this bucket back together so they could all be out here.

"Yeah." Kate looked over to where the engine room would be below deck where James was likely even now. She was proud of him, too. "I just don't want to be the one that destroys their lives. All because of money." They and their children were doing relatively well. This trip would simply make them all that much better off.

Rick heard a yell and looked. He changed course a little. Someone had spotted a Northern warship that was blockading the South. All the warships were all sailing ships so they were technically slower than they were. It was just that they had cannons and even one good shot could put an end to this.

~[o]~+~[o]~

Hours later all of them watching as the five ships were being loaded with cargo. "So far so good, Mama." Lily watched as another net full of cargo was lowered into their hold.

"We still have to make it back," Kate pointed out.

"You worry too much." Lily hugged her with one arm while still watching.

Kate arched an eyebrow. "I think it's part of my job description, as you well know, having a family of your own."

"They talk about this war being over fast. We need to do this for all of us. Why do you think we're not alone." Lily gestured to the other ships that were also being loaded.

Kate already knew how long the war was going to last. "And if it isn't over quickly?" What were her daughter's plans?

"Then we'll be doing this again." Lily saw the look on her mother's face. "I chose to do this, Mama. You need the money, I need the money. So do James and Levi. We know the risks and we'll be doing this for as long as we can. It's going to change our lives." Lily was in all the way no matter how many trips they made.

Kate wanted what was best for all of them. She just worried about what the cost would be.

Hours later all five of them were headed out to sea. This time they had their sails out since they needed them to try and counter for the added weight. They already had a buyer for the cotton that they were loaded down with. He was a Liverpool cotton merchant who was staring ruin in the face.

The South needed guns and other things while England needed cotton. Both sides were willing to pay huge sums to get what they needed. Their ship was the largest in the group so they had more cotton going home. It meant a bigger payday.

Kate watched as the lone Northern warship fell far behind them in the dark. They hadn't even gotten a shot off. "How many of these trips are we going to make?" Rick had a better memory than she did.

He thought for a moment. "Cotton's gathered in September and sold during fall and winter. We have two more trips this year before all the cotton is gone. If we last more than two years the risks start going up for us.

"In these early years there are only a few dozen blockade runners. By the end of this first year that number will be over 300. After this first year it will increase to thousands, mostly small ships, smaller than the smallest of us. By the end of the war over 1,100 ships were captured with a few hundred more run aground. Roughly 80% were successful. It was only after the North got better that the numbers fell. So we do this for two years and then decide what to do."

Kate already knew the money they were making. Cotton was four pence a pound in Wilmington and two shillings a pound in England. Though later in the war you could turn half-crowns (2 shillings) into sovereigns (one pound sterling) in a single trip. Twelve pence made up a single shilling and twenty shillings made a pound.

They had brought bundles of sheet iron, casks of copper, bundles of copper bolts, casks of tin, casks of saltpeter, cases of zinc, bales of blankets. Rick had argued that while the South needed iron to make cannons most of all, their ship had a shallow draft and couldn't hold the weight of all that pig iron to make them with.

It was 1861. The earnings for this trip before paying off the crew were $180,000 when converted to American money. Three runs this year with three more the next year.


	15. Chapter 15

**Lost - 12**

Alexis couldn't believe that she would've ever be this happy. She looked at the ring on her finger again. She was just starting to relive his proposal when she found herself no longer on her ship, but found herself in the Void once again.

"Hi! If you'll follow me, please." He looked elderly. He also looked like he had been out in the sun too long. She had gotten used to seeing men his age. A quick search of his face told that he still had certain things that led her to believe he'd been handsome when he was younger.

"Where am I?" he asked as he looked around. "Who are you?"

Alexis smiled since both questions were asked a lot. "This is the Void. The Void's an endless space that's filled with nothing. I'm your guide to escort you safely across it to get you from where you were to where you need to be." She took his arm and began to walk slowly.

"I was–" Suddenly he doubled over in pain, unable to speak. Alexis sympathized with his pain. She had seen people die from many different things. This was one of the reasons she had seen several times.

"You had cancer. The pain will pass, trust me, it'll pass." Alexis waited for his pain to dissipate before she took his arm again and started walking.

A thought hit him. It was something he had feared greatly. "I died, didn't I?" He looked at her. She looked far too young to be a person of death.

Alexis answered his unspoken question. "I'm not Death himself. That's someone else. I'm just your guide through the Void. It's my job to get you from one life to the next one."

"How did you do that?" He was certain that he hadn't said anything. That or he was losing his mind. "Lil would give me an earful if she had ever been able to read my mind." He chuckled at the implications.

Alexis stopped and turned to look at him. "Lil…as in Lily? What's your name?" Had she finally found him?

"Lil was my wife. I'm Nathanial. How do you know my wife?" Had she killed her, too?

"I'm not Death, I'm just a guide. Think of me as a tourist guide. You're Lily's husband." Alexis had thought she was happy. Now she was overjoyed.

She took his arm and began walking again. "I've already escorted Lily across the Void. I've been waiting for you." Alexis couldn't help it. She hugged him for a moment. "And we're here."

He looked past the young lovely woman that had just hugged him. It had been a long time since someone as lovely as her had hugged him. Then he saw it and was shocked.

"This is the wall of doors. One of these is yours." Alexis stood in front of him and placed her hands on either side of his face, forcing him to look at her and only her.

"I need you to concentrate on the door I describe. It's very, very important. Got it? Only the door I tell you about." Alexis did her best to picture the door Lily had gone through and proceeded to describe it to him.

"Picture that door and only that door," Alexis told him and felt when all the doors were gone. Turning around, she found just one door remained. "YES!" She started dancing. It looked exactly like the one Lily had used as far as she could tell. It was just that there were so many doors. If even one thing was different it would be the wrong door.

"This is the door your wife went through. If you want to have another life with her then you need to go through this door."

"Another life. My Lil is through this door?" Was that even possible?

"I think so. It's only there are so many doors," Alexis admitted since he needed to know. "If this is the right door, Lily's on the other side somewhere. What I don't know is if she's waiting for you or when you are going to show up or even where. There are things I still don't know. Are you willing?" Problem was Alexis didn't think he had a choice. No one had ever rejected a door before and asked for another one. This door either took him to her or it didn't.

"A chance at another life with Lil?" His mind was screaming _HELL YES!_ He reached for the doorknob then paused. "Will we be babies?" That was his only fear.

Alexis had to think fast. "It just means you'll have longer with her." Actually she didn't know. Her dad and Kate had obviously found themselves at roughly the same ages as when they went through the door. Being babies had never occurred to her.

"When you find her she'll have a story about me. Just remember that what she says about me is the truth." Alexis didn't have the time to explain that Lily was her sister.

Nathanial was willing to risk it. "Thank you. I hope someone does the same for you one day." He opened the door, stepped through, and closed it.

"Yeah, I hope so too." Alexis found herself back on her ship. She sat down and felt the tears start. She had met her sister and her husband. That gave her hope that maybe, just maybe, her dad and Kate had a chance at yet another life together.

Alexis lifted her head at a sound and saw Andres walk in. She madly wiped at her tears so that he didn't see them.

"I've been looking for you. Are you ready to leave? You wanted to go to Cat Island since you have someone waiting for us there," Andres reminded her.

"Yeah, let's go." Alexis tried to dry her hands on her clothes.

"Is everything alright?" He was sure she had been crying.

"I'm fine, just happy." It wasn't a lie since she was happy. Suddenly she found herself being held and began leaning into him.

"I know you still miss your grandmother. I'm sorry that she's gone. She was an amazing woman. A very talented one." Andres thought that was why she was crying.

"Grams was great. I just wish she could be there." Suddenly her happy thoughts were filled with moments that were going to be missed. She was alone now. Her dad wasn't going to walk her down the aisle because he had died years upon years ago. Now her grandmother wasn't going to be up front watching while crying joyful tears for her.

Andres tried to be positive. "You know she and your dad will be watching from wherever they are." Her family might be gone but she was never going to be alone. Not totally alone.

Alexis knew differently, though. Neither of them were ever going to see a thing. Her only family, if you could call them that, that would be coming was Lanie and her husband, Kevin and his wife, and Javi and his girlfriend. She'd made it easy for them. The only thing any of them had to pay for was the food they ate while they were there. It was going to be good to see them again.

"Let's go." Alexis resolved herself and headed for the bridge while Andres untied them from the dock.

~[o]~+~[o]~

The yacht might be able to reach but until they knew for sure they anchored farther out, launched the smaller boat off of the bow, and took it onto shore.

They were both greeted by the architect that Alexis had selected. Andres wasn't angry that she hadn't asked him. Housing wasn't really his kind of work. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to be critical of anything this guy came up with.

He actually met them at the water and helped them tie their boat in place.

"Thanks for meeting us." Alexis shook his hand followed by Andres.

"Not a problem. It's a good idea, really. It will help you visualize the design. Follow me." He started walking and took them to a small table that he had set up. On it they found a number of drawings that were held in place by either rocks or sea shells.

"Based our conversations I've settled on a floor plan." Dan moved some papers to show them. "This is the U-shaped floor plan that was agreed upon. Living, dining, and kitchen in this pod. The bedrooms and bathrooms in this pod. Both or single story with a flat roof. I've brought a few ideas to tie the two pods together and since we're here, we can imagine what we'll see." He was more than happy to meet them here.

"This is my first option." He took out a sheet and placed it on top, adding shells to hold it in place. "This will create an atrium in the middle with an enclosed or open walkway all around and connect each pod." Alexis looked at it and turned to look out at her ship.

She shook her head. "It closes it off." They had a view and she wanted to see it.

"Can you push this house out over the water? Maybe at least half of it. We're not going to have a car here. Everywhere we go is going to be by boat," Andres added.

"So you still want that boat house?" Dan asked; both of them nodded. "Well I brought an option since you talked about it. I rejected putting it under the house. This beach area just doesn't have the depth for a boat house this far in. Plus local codes won't allow us to dredge to make it deeper. Not without doing an extensive evaluation of the impact on the local wildlife and that can result in a lengthy delay and be costly," he warned as he searched for that plan.

He moved the shells to hold it down. "Your house is here." He indicated a big blank square. "From here we build a walkway out this way to reach the boat house. It will hold the three boats you talked about." He thought it was butt ugly but it was what they had asked for.

Alexis was shaking her head again. She turned to look where they planned to build. All she saw was that she would be sitting at home and looking out at this massive boat house. She glanced back at Andres who looked like he hated it just as much as she did.

"What are our options?" Alexis knew they needed boats and a place to store them. A place that would lift them up out of the water, that would protect them. "Babe?" She looked at Andres.

Actually Andres did have an idea. "You own all of this, right? Including to the other side of the island? Meaning we have two beaches we can use."

She looked out toward the house her dad and Kate built. It meant a long walk to get to the boat.

"Covered and we don't touch the house." Alexis gestured at her dad and Kate's house.

Actually Dan had come there to try and talk her into tearing it down. It was an ancient eyesore. "You're sure you want–"

Alexis broke in. " **YES!** The house stays. We're **not** touching it. Not painting it, nor removing it." Any other option was not an option.

"Come up with plans for a boathouse on the other side and means to get there and back. Golf cart maybe? A pair of quads, perhaps?" Alexis knew walking might be a little hard and take time.

"There are still a few wild horses on the island," Dan revealed, unsure if they would want to use them to move groceries or whatever.

"A stable?" Alexis turned to Andres. She kind of liked the idea but wanted his opinion.

Andres breathed in and then let it out slowly. "Who's going to look after them when we aren't here?" Horses needed care. They needed food and water. They needed baths, brushed, and have their stalls cleaned out.

"Can we get back to the house? We'll decide on this later," Alexis told them.

"Option two." Dan retrieved a different floor plan and put it on top. "This follows the atrium idea but instead of an atrium, we replace it with a pool. In addition, we add a patio or deck all the way around. Wider here facing the water than the other sides."

"With half of the house on stilts out over the water?" Andres questioned dubiously. He didn't see that happening.

"We can have both, however, the pool will not be a diving pool. The local jurisdiction will allow pilings but they won't allow us to build what they will see as a sea wall to hold the pool. We're going to have to float the pool. It will actually be built separate from the house."

Andres understood. "Allowed to move separate from the house as the tide comes in and goes out."

"Correct. We're also going to have to come up with a way to allow access to the land being this far out because of the tides." Dan used his hands to simulate it going up and down with the tide.

Alexis was all set to ask if he had brought any illustrations that included colors when she suddenly found herself in the Void.

She sighed. It wasn't good timing but at least she was ready since she still had her beach bag on her shoulder. "Hi, if you'll follow me please." She wanted to get this trip over with and get back to their future house.

"ALEXIS?" He hadn't seen her in years and yet she looked almost the same as the last time.

She was shocked and turned in surprise. No one had ever recognized her before.

" **ALEXIS!** " He couldn't believe it. It had been forever. He wrapped his arms around her and began crying; he couldn't stop himself.

Alexis still didn't know what to think. He was just another old man, but how did he know her?

Then he doubled over and clutched his chest in agony. She felt his pain. He had obviously had a massive heart attack. It was what he was remembering that hit her hardest, though.

" _Castle!" She watched him clutch his chest and saw only pain on his face. "Castle_ _,_ _please don't." Kate was starting to cry._ Alexis knew it was Kate. She was older but she could still see her and know who it was.

" **DAD?** " There was only one person who Kate would be pleading for him not to leave her. " **OH,** **DAD!** " The day had finally come. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him back with her very soul.

Rick let go of her and looked around. He knew exactly where he was and why he was there. He had died of a heart attack. He could still see Kate pleading with him not to die. He had wanted to stay, but Death had visited him and he knew it.

"What are you doing here?" His first fear was that Alexis was dead, but that didn't make any sense. She hadn't even been born when he'd died. The Void might not follow time, but this was taking things just a little too far.

Alexis wiped some tears away. "I'm your guide, Dad." She looked him over and kicked herself for not recognizing her own dad. She had been caught off guard.

" **YOU** **'RE** the guide? How long have you been the guide?" Rick was full of questions.

"Pretty much right after you went with Kate through the door. This man showed up and offered me the job. …I need you to come with me, Dad." They didn't have much time.

"I have a lot to tell you so just listen." Alexis didn't want questions, she had far too much to say. "I found you, Kate, Lily, James, and Levi. I found when you were rescued from Cat Island and taken to Nassau. I know you were blockade runners for a couple of years–"

Rick couldn't help himself, he had to say something. "Those trips earned us a lot of money." Their lives had changed a lot after just two years.

"I actually escorted Lily and her husband to a door. I got to see my sister." Alexis felt him wrap an arm around her but he kept silent. "Grams died peacefully in her sleep a few years ago. She was doing what she loved best. She…she missed you a lot. OH, I also found your grave markers." Alexis looked at him for an explanation. "Kravitz?"

Rick defended his choice. "Kravitz was a bounty hunter for the Raven Queen. He was presumed to reside within the Astral Plane. He spoke with a Cockney accent, but only when he was working. He was a strikingly handsome dark-haired man wearing a fancy suit that I covered by a long black, flowing cowled robe. His second known form sheds the human aspect and becomes skeletal with glowing red eyes."

"I'll look him up. I've traced your and Kate's children, their children, and even their children. I haven't yet traced down any living relatives but I'm still looking.

"And we're here." Alexis stopped, looking at the wall of doors.

"What about you, pumpkin?" Rick wanted answers just as badly.

His use of her nickname brought her tears on again. It had been a long time since anyone had called her pumpkin. "I'm engaged." She held up her hand to show off her ring. "His name is Andres White and he's an architect. We're getting married in a few weeks. Lanie and her husband, Kevin and Jenny, and Javi and his girlfriend are coming."

"Lanie's married! And not to Javi?" He'd high hopes for those two. "And Kate?"

Alexis shook her head. "I haven't seen her yet, which is good actually. I see you've picked your door." There was only one door in view. She reached into her bag and took out a large roll of duct tape. It was the biggest one she could find, measuring almost 3 inches by 60 yards. "Give me your hands, Dad."

She began taping his hands together. "What's this for?" Rick didn't understand. This hadn't been part of the Void when he was the guide.

"I have a plan, you just need to trust me." Alexis had his hands all taped up and leaned down to bite the edge so she could rip it. "Now back up against the door." She pushed him back and started wrapping the tape around and around him and the door.

" **This** is your plan?" What the hell kind of plan was this?

"Oh, the man that gave me this job has also been showing me how you and Kate have been doing every year. They looked like little movies. I've even seen two of your houses. The last one was really nice. Not as big as the other one that was three stories tall, but nice." She'd been impressed.

"The kids were married and gone so Kate and I agreed to downsize."

Alexis ran out of tape and stood back to look over her work. She had almost cocooned him to the door. Only his head, stomach and feet didn't have duct tape. It looked good. Even her dad shouldn't be able to get out of that.

"My plan…the plan is that when it comes Kate's turn, I'll bring her here and ask her for you. Not her door but for you. I got Nathanial to pick Lily's door after they both died so this should work." Alexis had at least a precedence for it to work.

Since this was the Void he shouldn't need food or water or even air to breathe. In fact the way time worked here, it would only be a second to him even if it was years for her. "Have a nice stay, Dad. I LOVE YOU!" Alexis felt herself beginning to cry. It had been so long.

"I love you too, pumpkin," Rick was able to say before Alexis faded from his sight.

Alexis found herself back where she had started. She was still crying and she knew it was going to get worse, so she ran.

"Did I say something?" Dan was bewildered. Just a moment ago everything had been fine. Now his client was running away while crying. Andres took off after her.


	16. Chapter 16

**Lost - 13**

 **Epilogue**

 _It has been just over 40 years_

Alexis was smiling as she sat there. Life was good. She was watching one of her sons jetting all over the place on a jet ski. Some of it was around and around her yacht. There were better yachts and there were bigger yachts, however, hers could still be manned by just two people.

The last she knew her husband was in the kitchen cooking. Since no one needed her she got up and moved onto the walkway that led to the boathouse on the far side. But she hadn't planned to go that far.

Alexis stepped off the walkway and headed for the other house that was on her land. Or was it their land now. It didn't matter.

It was still standing though even she didn't dare use the stairs to go up to the second floor. The elements were really starting to take their toll on the entire building. The main cause was that the floor of the second floor was open to all of it.

Compared to her home it looked incredibly crude. Her house was filled with glass; this house had none and never had had. Her doors had locks and seals to keep the elements out. This house had neither.

Stepping inside, she looked around. She had ordered that it be left the way she'd found it. Some of the local wildlife had tried to make it their home, but Alexis or someone else were there a little too often for them to make it their home for long.

Alexis started to smile as she walked around. Her dad, Kate, Lily, James, and Levi had grown up here. She still didn't have pictures and she still didn't have anything on any existing family members. Her researcher continued to look but he was told not to look too hard any longer. They either didn't exist or they had lost themselves. She was sure they were out there somewhere, though the researcher had nothing. She smiled at what her dad would make of that. She was certain that aliens or the CIA would be involved. "You just might be right, Dad." Alexis adjusted the strap of her beach bag that was digging into her shoulder.

She had been questioned by everyone why she insisted on carrying the thing around wherever she went. She was sure her bag had been searched when she wasn't watching, but she didn't care. It didn't matter.

Alexis began walking toward the door so she could go back outside when suddenly she was in the Void. Being in the Void was nothing new. People died all the time. She turned to see who it was.

This time it was an older woman who looked like she had been outside far too long. "Where am I?" Hearing that, Alexis smiled. With one exception, it was the question that everyone asked first.

Alexis was all set to answer but she was beat to it. "I'm in the Void again." Alexis saw her looking around. "I'm dead…again." Alexis thought she saw her start to smile.

"You've been in the Void before?" Alexis was now the one that was confused. "There are only a handful of people that even know about the Void." Then it hit her as she looked her over.

Even with age, she could tell that she had long legs; she was dressed in old clothes. Her hair was long, the brown liberally streaked with gray, and Alexis was guessing she was flat chested or close to being.

"Kate?" Alexis looked her over again and saw her begin to smile, yet she also looked confused.

"Alexis?" She was clearly older and her hair was red and not orange, but she sure looked like Castle's daughter. "Alexis!" Kate was positive now and moved to hug her.

"Kate!" She began crying and now Kate joined her. Then Kate doubled over in a haze of torturous pain. "It'll pass, Kate. The pain will pass." She had died just like her dad had. A massive heart attack had taken her.

"Come with me, Kate." Alexis started walking her toward the doors. "I have so much to tell you." Alexis saw her look at her and wait.

"I found where you and Dad built your house. Actually that's where I am now. I built a house on the beach not that far away from it. I've met Lily and her husband here in the Void."

"Lily. My little girl. Castle was right, I loved my children so very much. Unconditionally." She was filled with questions.

"I found your grave stones. I'm sorry to say that your dad never knew anything. The Void is a secret that no one can learn." Alexis had learned her lesson. "He died about 15 years ago. He went peacefully in his sleep. He never did start drinking again."

"And Castle?" Kate wanted to know what she knew.

"Dad has already come through here. You took your time. It's been a while. I watched you as a blockade runner. Two years worth. That was brave of you and Dad." They had reached old age by then.

"We earned a lot of money doing that. We left all of it to our children." Kate had insisted on it.

"I also saw your houses. The big one and the small one after that. Once Dad died my deal with who offered me this job ended so I stopped learning anything."

"What about you?" Kate inquired as she walked slowly, partly because she had to and partly because she wanted to make this trip last longer.

Alexis tried to speak quickly in an attempt to answer everything fully. "We live on our yacht most of the time, though we built a house near yours on Cat Island. I'm married, we have two boys. I love both of them so very much. One of them is here with us. He had the time to join us. The other is still at work and hopes to join us later. As soon as their wives get off work, they're both teachers, by the way. They plan on joining us out here. The house isn't big enough for all of us so some of us will be using the yacht."

"A yacht! It sounds nice," Kate smiled.

"PICTURES! CAMERA!" Alexis started kicking herself. She handed over the pictures and started taking pictures of Kate.

"And we're here." Alexis put her camera away, took the pictures from Kate, and stuffed them into her bag. Then Alexis stood in front of her and placed her hands on either side of her head.

"This worked for Lily. Her husband died after she did or at least showed up after her. He followed her through her door. …I need you to think of Dad. Don't think of a door, just think of Dad. He's in here, somewhere. I need you to call him here. Just think of him." Alexis watched her close her eyes and actually say his name over and over again.

" **KATE, oh god, Kate!** ALEXIS!" Rick didn't understand and yet in a way he did. Alexis had left only him a moment ago.

"CASTLE!" Kate was so happy to see him. He had died and left her alone. "Rick?" Why was he encased in duct tape?

"Here, cut him lose while I talk." Kate had a box cutter handed to her. She began smiling at Alexis's ingenuity. The beautiful redhead really was smart.

"Careful," Rick yelped when he felt something sharp hit him.

"Relax, I'm not going to kill you," Kate assured him; she wanted him alive.

"Grams died while you've been here, Dad. I haven't seen her in the Void yet. She missed you and I broke an unwritten rule and told her about the Void. I took her to your head stones so she knew everything." How Martha had reacted still haunted her to this day.

"I'm renting out the loft. I thought about selling it but decided to keep it. I thought maybe one of my sons would want it. The house in the Hamptons turned out to be the one I sold. I was living in Nassau with my husband, what did I need with another beach house." Alexis watched as her dad was finally freed from the duct tape.

Alexis instantly found herself being hugged by her dad. Her really elderly-looking dad.

"You two need to go. I learned the hard way that there **is** a time limit. I had someone who couldn't make up her mind and we watched her door disappear. She's still in the Void somewhere."

"Oh, you're going to want this." Alexis fished something out of her bag and handed it to Kate since it was her dad who was reaching for the doorknob.

"What's this?" It was about the size of a large fat book, except it looked like an ornate box.

"Something I put together just in case. I think you'll like it." Alexis didn't have time to tell them so they were just going to have to see for themselves.

"Thank you, Alexis. For everything. I've always been impressed by you." Kate hugged her tightly for a moment then walked toward the door that Rick was holding open.

Rick saw the door shimmer a little and it forced his hand. "I love you, pumpkin, and I always will." He smiled at her and stepped through the open doorway while he still could.

"I love you too, Dad." Alexis watched him close the door and found herself a few moments later on the floor of the old house, crying. "Bye, Dad."

~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~

Alexis wasn't sure, not really. There were bright lights and people seemed to be yelling. Nothing made sense to her. She tried to concentrate and but what she saw were strange people. She could tell that she was lying on her back, looking up. Granted she had been bed ridden for a few weeks, but this was different. Getting old had really sucked.

It explained all the lights, but who were all these people? Then she started singling out voices. It wasn't easy; everyone seemed to be talking at the same time. "Her pressure is dropping."

"We're losing her." It didn't make any sense. Losing who?

"Flat line." Alexis heard the words and knew what they meant. Then she heard that sound. The sound in all the movies she had ever watched that said someone had died.

"This way, Alexis, please come with me." A lone voice was all she heard now. Turning to see who was speaking, she looked past all of the people that were still in the room. The voice called out to her, "This way."

"Don't I know you?" Alexis found herself standing next to him but didn't remember moving. She felt something about him even if she didn't recognize him.

"This way." He took her arm and the next thing she knew she was in the Void. "You're guide will be here in a moment. Don't be angry, it's my job. I hope you receive only good things." As he started to fade he smiled broadly at her.

"Wait, I don't even know who you are." Alexis had questions.

"Say hello to her for me. I truly wish so much had been different." He had killed any number of people in his real life. Now it was his job to place the touch of death on a vast number of people. It was ironic, actually. This time, though, left him crying as he faded away. He had just touched his only granddaughter. It hurt almost as much to touch her as it had to touch his only son.

"Hello, Alexis darling." Alexis spun around. It took her a moment since she'd only seen the woman in front of her in pictures.

"Is that you, Grams?" What was her grandmother doing here and why did she look so young? "You're the guide?" Alexis knew where she was. She had spent a lot of her life in the Void.

"Like it!" Martha twirled around to show off what she looked like now. She was young again.

"OH, GRAMS!" Alexis stepped forward and hugged her grandmother for all she was worth.

"It's good to see you again, Alexis. I don't really understand it all myself. I'm not really sure how long it's been or even where I am now. There was this man. He was well-dressed, a little thin, not exactly handsome like Richard, but not ugly either. He told me he had a job for me. That for him I was the perfect person for it. He said he had been forced to wait to offer it to me."

Alexis knew exactly who she was talking about. "Yeah, that sounds like him alright. I always wondered just who he was. My first guess was GOD, but I don't think so."

"This is that Void of yours, isn't it? Somehow I know where everything is here." Martha looked around and save for Alexis and a wall of doors, she didn't see anything or anyone else.

"Yes, you get to escort me to my door so that I don't get lost." Alexis understood that she had died and this was the Void with the door to her next life.

"So where are you now, Grams?" She must be living somewhere.

"I don't think I have a place yet. I don't know what's going to happen next for me. I think you're my first…or my only one," Martha added softly since she didn't see anything in her future. It was strange.

"He asked me what I wanted." Martha hadn't known then and still didn't understand. "Want for what? I could only think to ask where Richard was. Sweetheart, I'm really sorry for breaking down that day. You showed me Richard's grave marker and while I knew he was gone, it suddenly hit me that he was really dead. My son was really dead." Martha still felt bad about that.

"It's okay, Grams, I understand. I knew something that you didn't." Alexis hugged her.

Then just like that, they found themselves before a wall of doors. "OH, MY!" Martha knew where it was, however, this was the first time she had ever seen it.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Suddenly Alexis had an idea. She stood in front of her and forced her to look at her. "Do you trust me, Grams?"

"Of course, darling. What are you thinking?" Martha would always trust her granddaughter.

"Don't think of anything. Try not to think of anything at all except maybe Dad." Alexis wanted this to work, so she concentrated and placed the image of the door in her mind. Just one door.

"Alexis? …Are they supposed to be all gone with just one door standing there?" Martha didn't understand how it was standing there. There was nothing holding it up. There was no house, no nothing.

Alexis turned and opened her eyes slowly. "YES!" She raised her arms up into the air.

"What's happening?" Martha remembered what her granddaughter had told her about this, but seeing it was something else.

"This is Dad and Kate's door…I think, I hope. There are so many doors. No two are exactly alike, but how many different totally different doors can there be?" She had feared long before now that a number of doors would look similar but have one little something different about it. The same size and color only to have a slightly different doorknob.

Alexis looked it over again and decided that it looked right. Still it was **their** door now. Then she had an idea. "Come with me, Grams." Alexis suddenly remembered what the man had said. "Someone, a man. He asked me to say hi to someone but didn't say who."

"Who told you to say hi?" Martha wasn't sure she should do this.

"Death. He was Death but I got the feeling he used to be someone else. He said I was to say hi and that he wished so much had been different. …I think maybe he meant you." It didn't make a whole lot of sense but that was what he'd said.

"Come with me, Grams. You're young again. We can start our life together. I think Dad and Kate are on the other side. We just have to find them." And be young again, just not a baby hopefully.

"What's on the other side?" Martha wasn't sure. Still it would be good to see her son again.

Alexis shrugged. "Anything, everything. Dad and Kate ended up in the early 1800s. We could end up anywhere. But at least the two of us will be together. We won't be alone." She turned her head, looking out into the Void.

If her grams came with her there would be no one to guide her husband or anyone else to this door. She was never going to see any of them again. "It was a good life. I love you, Andres." Alexis felt her tears starting at his memory.

"He was good for you, Alexis. I'm sorry I missed the wedding. You'll have to tell me all about him and any children you had together." Martha had missed out on all that.

"I had sons, Grams. Two boys. They were great." Alexis turned to look at the door. They were delaying too long. "Let's go, Grams. Let's find out what our future holds for us." Alexis took her hand, led her through the door, and closed it behind them.

~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~+~

"What will they find?" Death asked the tall well-dressed man who gave him this job years ago.

"The future. If the human race has any chance at survival it will rest on these four to accomplish it."

He thought it sounded ominous. Still he hoped for the best for them. He wished he could go with them. If it was as dangerous as it sounded, his skills might be useful.

The tall man turned to look at him. He silently put in his request and was instantly rejected.

"The answer is no, isn't it?" He had killed far too many people in his life. As far as he was concerned, he was lucky he wasn't spending eternity in Hell for what he had done. He hadn't killed people who didn't deserve it, though. Most had been sanctioned by his country, so while he **had** killed, he wasn't a murdering psycho.

"For now, my friend, for now. Remember time has no meaning here. Time means nothing to any of us. I need to find another guide." And he vanished, leaving him behind to look out onto the Void.

"Time." The very idea had him smiling. "Maybe I'll get to be the cavalry. I always did want to come charging in to save the day with guns blazing." His smile faded and he sighed heavily. It was time to get back to work; he had people to touch. He vanished slowly, leaving the empty Void behind. He wondered who he was going to select to be the new guide. Not that he was likely to ever meet him or her.

"So you're next." The sight of his smile was frightening. He reached out to touch Senator William H. Bracken. Of all the people he had touched this piece of offal deserved it more than a quite a few of all the others. "Go to Hell, Bracken."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"FOUND" will start tomorrow which will be the final chapters to this story.


	17. Chapter 17

**Found - 1**

"Where are we?" It looked familiar and yet the idea of it was just too weird. Then a voice behind her had both of them spinning.

"I think it's Walt Disney World," Alexis answered. She was looking around as well and hadn't yet spotted who was asking the question. She just assumed it was Martha.

Kate saw her. "Alexis?" She was stunned to see her again.

"ALEXIS!" Rick had seen her as well. He stepped over to her, lifted her up and hugged her with all the happiness he could muster. Alexis melted into her much loved father.

"Hello, Katherine." Martha was happy to see her and just a little bashful since she didn't look like she used to.

"Do I know you?" The woman had arrived with Alexis but that might not mean anything.

Uncertain as to what to say, Martha simply smiled.

"Mother?" Rick had finally looked past Alexis to see her. "You're…young." He couldn't believe it. He looked at Alexis for an explanation.

"Martha?" Kate looked her up and down. She'd never seen her look like this before.

"You look just as lovely as ever, Katherine, as does my son." Martha subtly pointed out that they weren't as old as when they died, either.

Rick let go of Alexis and stepped over to his mother. "How did you get here? How did both of you get here?" He was happy to see her since it had been a really long time. Then he turned to ask Alexis what was going on.

It was only then that he noticed what Alexis looked like. "Pumpkin!" Shocked, he stared her.

"What?" Alexis looked herself up and down not understanding his reaction. Then she looked at her hands and saw that they were smooth and supple again. She skimmed her fingertips over her face and realized that her face felt different. Or was it just her hands? She looked at her grandmother. "How old do I look?" Alexis really wanted to know.

"Sixteen, my dear," Martha replied. Rick nodded in agreement.

"SIXTEEN! …GOD! Why couldn't I be at least eighteen?" At least done with high school and all that awkward time. Alexis raised her head. "Thankfully I'm not a baby." Who would feed her if she was an infant?

Rick smiled at her. "You'll always be my baby girl," he said lovingly.

"Not helpful, Dad." Alexis glared at him which had him fidgeting. Kate was starting to giggle. This entire exchange was amusing.

Kate got them back on topic. "So why Walt Disney World and not Disneyland?"

Rick turned to look at her and for the first time saw that she was young again, like really young. Younger than he remembered ever seeing her before. "Speaking of young."

Kate did what Alexis had done and ran her a hand over her face. Then she looked to see how long her hair was. "How old do I look?"

"Hm, definitely before your mother was killed. …Eighteen maybe," Rick declared. Hearing that had Kate bending to look herself over a little more.

"You look equally young, Richard," Martha commented.

"What?" Now it was Rick's turn run his hands over his face and then look himself up and down.

"I'd guess 24 maybe, Dad." Alexis had seen him at that age as had Martha.

"I…I…" This wasn't what he was expecting. He took another look at everyone and was amazed to realize that they all were young, even his mother. She looked like she had when he was a little kid, around age 5 or so, making her somewhere around 30.

"Personally I like it." Martha was onboard with everyone being young. "I haven't looked like this in a very long time. This is going to be fun." She was sure she was going to like this.

Bringing them back to the subject at hand, Kate asked again, "Why Walt Disney World?" and looked around.

They were standing on red bricks with a flag pole in the center and walkways leading out. The castle was in the distance and the train station was behind them.

"Where is everyone?" Alexis asked, noting that the place was eerily empty of anyone. All they saw was trash being blown around.

"It's closed?" Martha suggested.

"Disney is never closed, Mother. Not for anything except maybe for the possibility of a hurricane," Rick answered. At that, all of them looked up at a mostly cloudless sky.

"It's hot. **I'm** hot," Kate complained. She was wearing what she had been wearing in the 1800s as was Rick. She looked and saw Alexis wasn't wearing what a 16-year-old would be wearing and Martha was wearing one of her glow in the dark outfits that she enjoyed so much.

"Look! A clothing store." Alexis began walking toward it. "There might be people and new clothes," she called over her shoulder. The rest moved to join her.

The place was devoid of people which had them perplexed. His curiosity winning out, Rick played with the cash register. "It's still full of money." He pulled out a number of bills and held them up.

"What the hell is going on?" Kate wondered aloud.

Martha started looking around and selecting items that were her size to look them over. "What? I'm not wearing this forever." Alexis joined her followed by Rick moving to the men's area. Kate began looking as well.

Little by little each one came out looking like a Mickey Mouse lover. All they found was park-based clothing, though at least it did fit better. Though they didn't find new shoes or bras, everything else had been replaced.

"One of these, maybe?" Rick lifted up a bottle that had a fan attached to it and pressed the button. He was pleasantly surprised to see that it worked. His brow creased in puzzlement. "Did you notice that it's also cool in here?"

The others looked around. Kate added her voice. "He's right. So there's power but where is everybody? Walt Disney World should be packed with people. Tourists and people who work here."

"At least the lines will be short." Rick started smiling since he was thinking of riding all the rides. Several times, over and over, in fact.

"Focus, Castle. We should be finding out what's going on, not riding the rides." Kate had always been far more focused than him.

"Cast members only," Alexis read. She pointed at the door and headed for it

"Power with no people. No guests and no workers." Martha followed them into the back.

It was a lot smaller than they thought it would be. There was a little merchandise back there waiting to be taken out front. A lot of it was also tossed here and there with several pieces lying on the floor.

"COFFEE!" Kate saw a basic coffee maker, pulled out the dispenser, and touched it. "It's cold." She stuffed it back into the machine and began opening cabinets.

"DAD!" Alexis was pointing at something that was pinned to a small bulletin board. In big bold letters across the top it said, " **INFECTED** **.** "

Rick moved over, took it down, and began reading. Meanwhile Alexis found another newspaper whose pages were scattered all over. She started gathering them up and organized them so she could read them.

Kate located the coffee and filters. So she emptied the dispenser, filled it with water, and poured it into the back of the machine. She had it running in no time. Then she went over to the refrigerator and opened it. There was ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, leftover lunches still in their containers and lunches people had brought but had never eaten. "It's not growing fuzz." She closed one, put it back inside, and shut the door.

"Kiddo?" Martha knew her son was a fast reader only to see him hold up a finger and continue reading.

"Kate!" Alexis handed over a page of the newspaper she'd found. Martha got another. Alexis kept one for herself and began reading.

Kate heard her coffee maker stop working and could smell the coffee. She abandoned her newspaper to search for a coffee cup and poured some. She grabbed the vanilla flavored creamer, added some, then used a stirrer to mix it up. She lifted it up and inhaled before taking a sip. "Mmm, COFFEE!" It felt like it had been years since she'd had any.

Rick got everyone's attention. "There was an infection. Apparently they had found a cure for cancer and the company sold it to everyone. Meaning, I think, that it was sold worldwide. It doesn't say exactly how long, but it talks about there being an incubation period. I'm guessing that to get it worldwide it must have lasted months." He paused to get it straight. "People started flooding into hospitals that were quickly overrun. The infected attacked those that were uninfected. If you survived you became infected. It goes on to talk about the battle to stop the infected. The article doesn't really end so I think I'm missing pages." He didn't have the entire story and that bugged him.

Then something occurred to him. He picked it back up and looked to find it. "Pumpkin, don't take this wrong, but when did you die?" They were all dead after all. They'd simply walked through a door to a new life.

Alexis wasn't expecting that question and it took her a moment to answer him. "It was 2076. ...Why?" What did the year she'd died have anything to do with this?

"Huh… This paper is dated April 7, 2091," he said.

"Papers were mostly out of circulation by the time I died. Only the big ones still remained. New York, Chicago, Washington DC, London. There were a few small city papers scattered all over," Alexis revealed as he looked again.

"It's the Osceola News-Gazette," Rick announced.

Alexis shook her head. "Never heard of it. It's probably local to Orlando. I lived mostly in Nassau after renting out the loft and selling the house in the Hamptons."

Rick's jaw dropped. "You sold the house in the Hamptons?"

"Yes, Dad, I sold it. I lived on a yacht in or near Nassau. What did I need with a beach house in a state or even a country that I didn't live in? I built a new one not far from yours on Cat Island."

Kate didn't want to see them argue. "You were dead, Castle. …We both were."

"But I liked that house." He pouted the tiniest bit then stopped, acknowledging that Kate had a point.

"Alexis, what's in this?" Kate picked up the box that Alexis had handed her just before going through their door.

"Vaccines mostly. Chickenpox, diphtheria, influenza, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, measles, pneumonia, shingles, polio, mumps, and rubella. With the exception of hep a and b, pneumonia, and shingles, they're all in children's doses. Two syringes for each. I was thinking that if you and dad had had more kids you might want them. Provided that my plan worked. Lanie helped me get some of them. I tried to get at least one for smallpox, but that one was impossible." She'd wracked her brain about what to give them if her plan worked.

"I knew you went from 2010 to 1800, so ending up in another medically backward time was possible. You could have found yourself in the wild west maybe. It was the best I could come up with." Alexis shrugged and the next thing she knew, Kate was hugging her. Then her dad joined them followed by Martha.

"You're amazing, Alexis." Kate was more impressed by her than she ever had been.

"What now?" Martha didn't know what to do. The world sounded dangerous to her.

"What time is it?" Kate glanced around and saw a clock. "11:32. Not yet lunch. If these infected are going to try to attack us we need weapons. Lots of weapons and a place to stay. Does Disney have police? I'm sure they have security but are they armed?"

"Disney World employees are below us in tunnels but I think the county sheriff has jurisdiction. I'm pretty sure they have their own fire department but they're not likely to be armed," Rick said.

"Sheriff's office it is then." Kate was ready to leave. She'd had her cup of coffee and was more than awake.

"We need a car." Rick walked back outside. "Front gate." He headed toward the park entrance.

Kate stopped them as they reached the entrance where they saw abandoned buses and cars scattered all over. "We need an address and how to get there."

"This might be harder than it looks." Alexis said. All she saw was a maze of cars, trucks, vans, and buses of all sizes. "There aren't any bodies," she pointed out which prompted all of them to look around.

"And no keys unless they're still in the car," Kate brought up. "A bus is too big, Castle. If Alexis is right and the roads are a maze, we need to be able to maneuver." She saw where he was going only to see him pass by a couple of buses and walk up to an old truck that had both doors standing open. She thought there were better options but watched him get in the driver's side and a moment later she heard the engine start. They hurried to join him.

Rick was proud of himself. "It's old enough to hot wire easily." His choice had just one problem, though. There wasn't enough room for all of them in the cab. Kate noticed it first and hopped into the bed. It gave the three of them room in the cab. Rick drove, Alexis was in the middle, and Martha was on the passenger's side.

They were soon following the exit signs until Kate started yelling for Rick to stop. They watched as she jumped out of the bed and ran over to an Orange County Sheriff car that was just sitting there. They saw her try each door and then the trunk. Then she began looking inside before running back.

"It's a dummy car. It might not even have an engine." Kate didn't see where a computer could be mounted. It was missing things that told her it wasn't real. "Find us a hotel, Castle. We need a phone book or a working computer to find the closest sheriff's office." She settled back down into the bed.

"DAD!" Alexis pointed at a sign that indicated a direction.

It took a lot of maneuvering but they finally ended up parked at the entrance to Disney Caribbean Beach Resort. The place was a mess, though the automatic doors opened for them. Kate headed for the check in desk and climbed over it to get behind it.

There were still no bodies but there were suitcases. "Food?" Alexis asked somewhat pitifully. She was hungry and the sign read _Spyglass Grill._

"Just be careful, we don't know what these infected look like or where they are now." Kate called out as she searched for something that would tell her something.

Martha was conflicted. If they all went then Kate would be left alone and yet she was a little hungry. She chose to stay with Kate while watching Richard and Alexis go into the restaurant.

Martha stood at the desk and looked down at Kate who was going through some shelves. "Anything?"

"Keys." Kate dropped them on the desk and Martha reached for them. "YES!" Phone book in hand, Kate stood up and started looking for that address.

"I think these are hotel keys. Maybe security keys." Martha had been in her fair share of hotels; all the way from bug infested dives to five star hotels.

"Orange County Sheriff's office!" Kate tapped it with her finger then looked around for pen and paper. "Let's find Rick and Alexis." She climbed back over the desk with her address and a map that she found while looking for something to write with and on.

She and Martha came across them in the kitchen which was a complete mess. "What are you two doing?"

"Making sandwiches!" Alexis smiled brightly and went back to creating a sandwich masterpiece.

"And you?" Rick was standing at a grill and flipping meat.

"Burgers. The walk-ins are still full and everything works even if the place is a mess. I thought about making something a lot more worthy of me. But I'm betting you can't wait to get your hands on a weapon again." He began putting slices of cheese on his burgers, watching them melt.

Kate was all set to counter his thinking but changed her mind. "Guilty as charged," she admitted. She did want to start carrying a weapon again. Especially if there were infected people around that wanted to kill them.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Rick was trying to drive while eating part of his burger. He had cut his in half before wrapping them all up. Alexis was sitting next to him with Kate's map in hand and a bag full of sandwiches she'd made along with bags of chips that they'd found on the way back out.

Martha was nibbling on one of the sandwiches while holding a bag that contained a selection of bottled and canned drinks. Kate was in back trying not to be thrown around while devouring her burger.

"Watch it, Castle. I'd like to live to get where we are going," Kate yelled, barely hearing him say sorry.

It was taking forever. Rick had to weave in and out, around the abandoned cars that littered Interstate 4. "Three more exits, Dad." Alexis was keeping track.

He stopped to figure out how he was going to get around the mess in front of him. "Maybe the side roads would be better."

"Go back and take the exit, then go up the ramp to get back on the Interstate," Alexis instructed.

Martha felt a tap on her shoulder. She shrieked since she just knew it was one of those infected people. Kate yelled her request. "Coke, Martha." Martha put a hand over her chest then reached into the bag to fish out a can of Diet Coke. She tried to hand it to Kate who was leaning out over the side of the truck to reach it.

"Thanks, Martha." Kate started chugging and burped loudly, not the least bit concerned who heard her. She threw her empty can over the side and started watching her surroundings and the mess that she saw everywhere.

It wasn't until Rick stopped that Kate got up to look where they were. The building said _Orange County Sheriff_ _'_ _s Office_ _._

"Nice work, Castle." Kate was pleased. However, the parking lot was empty which was a little concerning. There were just a couple of sheriff's cars parked that they could see.

They found the front door unlocked and inside looked empty of people. There was also paper scattered everywhere. "What a mess." Martha wasn't impressed.

"Spread out, we're looking for weapons and ammunition…and car keys. There should be a shotgun and a bag filled with stuff in the trunk." Kate picked a desk and began searching it.

A few minutes later Alexis called out, "DAD, in here." She'd found something.

"Ooo!" Rick loved it. He kissed Alexis's head then walked right up to it and started flexing his fingers.

"Castle, that's a gun safe. What are you, a master thief?" Kate didn't think he stood even a ghost of a chance.

"Oh ye of little faith. Watch the master at work." Rick grinned and leaned down to the safe's dial.

"He's never going to get that open," Kate murmured to Alexis just as Martha showed up.

"Derrick Storm. Give Dad a chance," Alexis insisted.

Kate didn't get it. "What has Derrick Storm got to do with anything?"

"Dad does a lot of hands-on research–" Alexis tried to start to explain.

Kate broke in, "Safe cracking." She was catching on fast.

"Never underestimate my son, Katherine." Martha defends her son.

"Dad wanted to figure out how Derrick was going to get out being bound to a chair. So, he had me duct tape him to a chair one time," Alexis confided.

"And?" Kate asked, wondering if Rick really did stand a chance.

Alexis grinned. "You had to cut him free from the door, right?" she asked, offering a glimpse at the outcome of that adventure.

"We're doomed." Kate hung her head and went back to searching the office for anything and everything.

Martha found a pair of handcuffs and dropped them into the bag that Kate was filling.

"EUREKA!" Everyone scrambled to where Rick was. He stood there beaming at his accomplishment. "Never doubt me again."

 _(4) Glock model 22, .40 caliber semi-automatic weapon_

 _(2) Colt AR-15_

 _(2) Remington 870, 12 gauge_

"And ammunition!" Kate started pulling out box after box.


	18. Chapter 18

**Found - 2**

Kate strapped on one of the duty belts that were issued to officers that she had found and slid her Glock into place. "Feeling like old times?" Rick teased as he picked up his own belt.

"From my days on the beat after I joined the force, yeah." She pulled a pair of cuffs out of her bag and slid them into place on her belt. "Now all I need is a baton, radio, and radiation detector."

"Alexis," Rick called. Kate saw her walking around, handing off handheld walkie-talkies to everyone. Kate smiled with satisfaction as she slid that onto her belt.

"Here's yours, Martha." Kate held out another belt.

"Oh no, dear. That's not my style. Besides I'll just shoot myself." Martha waved her hands at Kate and refused to take the thing.

"Put it on, Martha. I'm going to teach you how to shoot. Unless you want an infected person to either kill you or turn you into one of them." Whatever _them_ were since they had yet to see one. Martha took it reluctantly and actually did her best to show that she didn't know what she was doing only to have Kate come in and help her put it on for her.

"This is your weapon, Martha." Kate held it up. "You press this button to eject the magazine," she demonstrated. "Then you simply slam it back into place. Preferably with a magazine that has rounds in it." Kate slapped it into place. "After that you pull the slide back like this to chamber a round. It won't fire until you move this safety switch from here to here." She demonstrated that part, too.

"Now hold it in your hand." Kate passed it to her and Martha almost dropped it because of the weight. "Hold it with both hands." She stepped in behind Martha. "Like this." She moved Martha's hands to the proper position. "Make sure this hand doesn't slip up or the slide will cut your hand after you fire it. It has a little kick to it but you'll get used to it eventually." Kate was going to show her.

Martha really wasn't sure about all this. "This is **not** a good idea, Katherine."

"The old Martha didn't know how to shoot, but this is the new Martha and she **is** going to learn." Kate wasn't taking no for an answer. Not if this world was as dangerous as it sounded.

"You're next, Alexis." Kate started walking toward Alexis who already had a belt on. Kate stopped, amazed, as she watched Alexis smoothly do what she'd just shown Martha.

"Dad took me to the gun range to teach me how to shoot. I've even fired a rifle a few times." Alexis looked pleased with herself and put her weapon in her holster.

"Derek Storm, I'm guessing." Kate saw Rick smile proudly. She looked at him. "I know **you** know how to shoot."

"You were a very good teacher," Rick reminded her. Kate bit her lip then smiled at him.

"Now what?" Alexis questioned.

"We need to think of a safe place to stay and find one. We also need food." Kate was quiet for a moment. "It has to be someplace defensible. Someplace that we can actually live in and cook in while we look around and understand this place."

"Disney's big. There are lots of places to choose from," Alexis commented. "Lots of restaurants with coolers and food storage. Lots of drinks, too."

"The back areas of Disney, maybe?" Rick suggested. "They have to have maintenance yards for all the stuff they have." It had them all thinking. "A fire station!" he exclaimed.

Kate searched for a phone book again. "There's one listed at 1001 Maple Road, Lake Buena Vista. It's Reedy Creek Fire Station." She turned to the computer screen and tapped a key on the keyboard to wake it up. "It's on the corner of Maple Road and Floridian Way, just west of…Big Thunder Mountain Railroad." She just knew this was going to be trouble.

"Disney rides! Yes!" Rick was in. It sounded like the perfect place to him.

Kate printed out a map that showed how to get there. "We take this with us including the printer and some paper and ink. Start unplugging and taking it out to the truck," she instructed.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"Back the way we came, Dad." Alexis had the map and was the acting navigator.

"Get off here." She'd seen something. Her dad did what she'd told him. "Turn right and pull up to one of the pumps."

"Why are we stopping here?" Kate stood up as everyone got out of the truck.

Alexis pointed at the convenience mart. "Gas for the truck. Food and drink."

"Good thinking." Kate jumped out of the truck. "Let's empty this place and fill the back of the truck. Gas, Castle." She marched to the building, pulled out her weapon, and began taking it slow as she entered.

"Clear. Okay, get some plastic bags and start filling them with everything you can find and take them out to the truck." Kate grabbed some bags of her own, emptying a shelf then taking it out to the truck.

Her next trip was for something else. "Fill these too, Castle, and put them in the back of the truck." She had two gas cans. They weren't big but they were all the place had.

"Where are you going to sit, Katherine?" Martha waved at the bed full of plastic bags that were in the back of the truck along with two red gas cans.

"On top." Kate made a face and started climbing in to find a spot that didn't poke her in her ass. "Start driving, Castle, and watch the bumps."

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate was ready to give Castle a piece of her mind after he stopped and turned the truck off. It felt like he had hit every single bump between there and here.

"It's big, Dad." Alexis was impressed.

"It's white," Martha added.

Rick had noticed both but he'd also noticed that the parking lot on the side had a few cars and a couple of trucks parked in it. He had chosen to park in front of one of the big red doors that likely had a fire truck behind it.

Kate jumped out a little more carefully this time and stepped up to Martha. "It's huge." Kate knew the three red doors would have fire trucks and probably an ambulance behind them. She hadn't really thought about medical but having an ambulance available to them sounded like a good thing. Next best thing to a hospital.

"Stay behind me, we need to clear the place and make sure it's safe." Kate drew her weapon, flipped the safety off, and headed for the front door.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

They ended their search in the truck bay where they found a ladder truck, a fire truck, an ambulance, a battalion chief's SUV and something that Rick was instantly in love with and never left once he found it.

A moment later they all learned that the damn thing had lights and a siren. It was, they learned, a Polaris Quad that could seat two people with a bed behind it. It also had six wheels, two up front and four in the back.

"If I didn't love him I'd shoot him." Actually Kate was thinking of shooting him anyway.

"Could be worse." Alexis was willing to let her dad have his fun. "It could have wings." Alexis headed back inside and out to the truck to begin unloading it.

Martha just shrugged as an apology and followed her granddaughter.

"Let's go, Castle. Time to empty the truck and move in. Unless you want to starve to death. Before I shoot you." Kate didn't wait to find out what he chose as she kept walking.

However, she soon felt Rick wrap an arm around her. "I knew you loved me." He kissed her head.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Rick was busy cooking dinner when Kate walked in. "This place isn't just a fire station, it's a battalion headquarters." They had found a room that had eight screens in front of a keyboard and communications gear. There were offices and storage. A dorm room that slept ten. There was a day room that had a TV, kitchen with four large Max Cold side by side refrigerator freezers, that were already almost full before they stuffed them to almost overflowing. It also had a Wolf six burner, gas-fired range and oven complete with a grill and flat plate, which was where Rick was at the moment. There was even a weight room.

It turned out they didn't need that computer or printer. This place had several.

He kept cooking. "Where are Mother and Alexis?"

"Martha said something about a shower. Alexis is sitting at one of the computers trying to learn what is going on. If you're good here, I'm going to go turn on the TV and see if there's anything." Kate kissed the side of his head.

"I'm good. Based on what we found and what we brought we'll be eating well until the produce starts to go bad," he mentioned, flipping the steaks he had on the grill and checking his pot.

"That's right. None of the produce has gone bad yet. Whatever's going on, it happened fast. But it leaves me with a question." There was something bugging her.

"Where are the bodies," Rick mentioned; he'd noticed, too.

"Yeah. If they killed them there should be decaying bodies all over, but there aren't any, not one." Kate didn't get that.

"Unless the infected are also cannibals." It answered the question. "There's no sign of bonfires to get rid of the bodies. It happened too fast to bury that many people. Your radiation counter hasn't gone off like last time so that leaves out them trying to nuke them all." He'd noticed a lot of things.

Kate wrapped her arms around him. "I'm still sorry about that time, Castle. We really should have learned to talk to each other."

He turned everything off since the food was done and he didn't want it to dry out or burn. He embraced her in return. "We had an entire life together. Our children are part of this planet's history. Now we get to do it all over again." Rick kissed her.

Alexis announced her presence by teasing them. "EWW! I'm going to need counseling if you two are going to do that all the time!"

Kate wasn't bashful about how she felt anymore. "Yes, you are." She gave Rick another quick kiss before letting go of him.

"I've learned a few things if you're done," Alexis said.

"Dinner's ready if you want to find Mother," he told his daughter.

"I'll set the table." Kate went in search of plates, glasses, and silverware. This kitchen was the biggest thing she had ever seen. So was the day room that was filled with leather lounge chairs facing a wall-mounted TV. She thought she even saw a DVD player.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Alexis was looking her T-bone steak over while spreading butter on her baked potato. She was also eyeing the Brussels sprouts while they lasted.

"Okay, the paper was right. One of the pharmaceutical companies proclaimed they'd created a cure for cancer. They released it for sale after getting FDA approval or so it was announced.

"They also charged an arm and a leg for it. Only the stinking rich, the very rich, and just plain rich could afford it. From what I read they bought out the first production run. It took them another three months to start distributing the second production run.

"The first run was distributed worldwide. The rich people in Russia. The rich people in Japan. The even richer people in China. Especially the filthy rich in Dubai. Naturally the rich in the States.

"Just as the second run was being administered, reports started coming in about horrendous side affects. In just hours people's bodies underwent changes. They lost their skin coloring. Even the darkest skin turned into albino. Their eyes didn't just look bloodshot but had actually turned red.

"There were also reports that all of the infected lost the ability to speak. Their motor control also appears to have been affected." Alexis had learned a lot since the network was still up. She still had a lot to read to understand all that was available, but she knew enough.

"Those few people did all this?" Kate didn't see how that was possible. They were talking about hundreds of thousands of people, if not millions.

Alexis started shaking her head. "They weren't just infected. They were also carriers."

"Dear god." Kate's fork fell to her plate and she sat back, beginning to lose her appetite.

"For the rest of us, Alexis," Martha asked.

"You no longer had to to have the injection to get infected." Alexis tried to think of what it meant so that her grandmother would understand. "Say you had a cut on your hand or your arm and you came into contact with someone that was infected. If in some way his blood came into contact with that wound, you just became infected." She thought that was simple enough.

"The military would go around shooting everyone infected and all that blood splatter would hit them or their buddies and end up infecting themselves. But I don't understand something."

Alexis beat Kate to her question. "Where is everyone and why does it look like it happened so fast?" Kate nodded. That was exactly what she wanted to know.

"It doesn't say. It happened too fast for anyone to know for sure. My guess is that it somehow mutated and instead of taking months, it only took hours. It reminds me a lot of a movie starring Charlton Heston," Alexis responded.

" _Omega Man_ _,_ _"_ Rick said quickly. "There was a remake several decades later with Will Smith." He started snapping his fingers; the name was on the tip of his tongue.

Alexis helped him out. " _I_ _A_ _m Legend._ The movie has become real life. Ironic. I always thought Star Trek would be the movie that would come to real life. Not a catastrophe movie." She stuffed herself with Brussels sprouts.

" _Omega Man._ Didn't that one end with his blood being the cure?" Kate inquired.

Alexis nodded and swallowed. "The same for _I_ _A_ _m Legend_ _,_ _"_ she answered.

"Can we use what you gave Katherine?" Martha asked since she didn't know anything about the movies they were talking about.

Alexis began shaking her head. "They're simple inoculations. Everything that would have been available in this time. I gave it to them thinking to bring modern medicine into the past for their children. It isn't going to help us." Alexis didn't see any advantage in having the vaccines. "I don't think even Lanie could do anything with this." This infection was far beyond her skill.

Everyone was quiet for a while they ate. "At least Dad didn't live to see this." It was one thing Kate was thankful for.

"We had Jim over for dinner every Sunday until he was admitted," Martha mentioned.

"To a nursing home," Alexis quickly added before Kate thought about all of the bad things.

"Thank you. That was very kind of you." Kate reached for Martha's hand who was sitting closer than Alexis was.

"We were glad to do it. He was a special friend and we had some lovely times when he visited," Martha responded.

"He didn't go back to drinking after you were killed," Alexis said softly.

"I was shot at my parents' house in the woods. Dad came and stayed with me until I made him go home. At least he was gone or they might have shot him, too." Kate was glad about that.

She wondered if there was any justice in the world. "Did anyone ever find out who was behind it all?"

"I spent my time and money trying to find you and Dad and your descendants. Though if he was rich…" Alexis let that thought fade.

Rick finished it for her. "He's one of the original infected."

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate was helping Rick clean up in the kitchen while Alexis retreated to the computer to keep reading. "If there **are** infected, where are they? We haven't seen anyone since we got here," Kate wondered.

"If it works like the movies, they stay out of the sunlight and only move at night," Rick replied.

"Which means until we can really button down this station or move to a more secure building, we have to set up a watch at night," Kate said. "Or get killed while we sleep," she added.

"We should search this place thoroughly and figure out what it will take to secure it. Water, power, food, gasoline, everything," she suggested.

"In that case let's start with power." Rick went out into the truck bay to look at the fire trucks. "Do you know anything about fire trucks?" All he saw was a lot of dials, gauges, and a whole lot of shiny stuff.

"Nothing except they put out fires," Kate answered and started opening doors. Behind those doors she found all kinds of things but nothing that would help them at the moment.

"Roof, attic, basement maybe. How about out back?" This place was big after all.

"Wow what is this thing?" Rick found a big box out the back door not far from the building just off to one side. "Kohler?" It was the biggest word on it.

Kate found something else. "This one says diesel only."

"It's an emergency generator! Sure is a big one." It was taller than he was.

"We're going to need a lot of diesel." If the black part on the bottom was the fuel tank it wasn't going to last long.

"How are you at driving a semi with a tanker of fuel?" It was the easiest way to get the most diesel at one time that he could think of.

"We may have to find out."


	19. Chapter 19

**Found - 3**

First Lieutenant Mathew Morrison knocked before opening the door more. "You wanted to see me, Captain?"

"Come in, close the door." The captain waited for him to sit down. "Join me? I've been saving this but a good time that might not come. Now seems like a good time."

Morrison looked back at the door. He was still on duty. "Maybe a tiny one, sir." The First lieutenant sipped his drink and set it back down practically untasted.

"It's Tequila, made and bottled by this little company. They only sell locally. My wife and I took a cruise to Mexico. We went on a shore excursion and found ourselves on a tour of this little distillery. …Forty-two dollars a bottle. I in my infinite wisdom only bought the one…this one." The captain drained his small glass. Then he sighed. "How's the crew? I've noticed that they all shut up the moment they see me." He wanted the truth.

Morrison didn't want to rat out the crew but it was his job to make sure the boat ran perfectly. "Worried. We're four months into a nine month deployment. We surfaced long enough to download our burst, which should have been filled with letters, video messages and more from home. Instead we got nothing."

The captain took a breath. "It's worse than that. That burst didn't contain anything from Command. Even our low band while submerged has been silent for the same amount of time." He had ordered the communications officers to keep it silent.

"A strike, maybe?" Meaning a sudden nuclear attack.

"Command could still reach us. A week I can understand, but a whole month?" The captain shook his head. "No, something else happened. The question is what." He didn't have any leads.

"That the reason for the course change? It's not our prescribed course," Morrison queried.

"We need answers. It's the best place I can find to make a sudden unplanned surface. Something longer than a simple high yield burst. It's a risk but one that might be worth it."

"Count me in." Morrison changed subjects. "…You planning on taking that cancer cure?"

That had the captain laughing. "Not on my pay. I'm not sure even the admiral can afford it unless his family has money I don't know about. Maybe the price will come down before I die of old age." He laughed a little harder since the chances of that were none.

"Me neither. We're just going to have to pray we don't contract cancer." Morrison joined him in his laughter.

"We'll be be on site in a few days. Try to keep the crew occupied till then. And send in Lieutenant Jarod when you leave. I have a task for him." Morrison knew he was being dismissed.

"Sir, and thanks for the drink. It was…smooth." What little he'd drunk had proved that.

The captain heard a knock at his door and told whoever it was to come in. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

"At ease, Lieutenant." The captain motioned to the empty chair. "Have a seat. I have a task for you."

"What's on your mind, Captain?" They had talked before but never like it was a secret.

"We're going to be surfacing for a few hours at least in a couple of days. During that time I want you to not just search for a signal from Command, but I want you to search for **any** signal. I also want you to search the Internet. We need answers. If you don't find anything then we'll talk. I want you to think up options if there's nothing. Try and think outside the box. Something's going on and I want to know what it is." He was down here, under over a hundred feet of water, and no one was talking to him.

"Yes, sir. I'll do my best." Though what he was just asked for was a little scary.

"Keep it to yourself until I tell you otherwise. Find something or nothing and I'll share with the crew at that time." He knew he was asking a lot of him.

Jarod heard it loud and clear. "Understood, sir."

"Dismissed." Captain Zimmerman answered his salute.

"What the hell is going on?" He couldn't think of anything that would force this much silence. There were just too many backups in place to be this silent.

~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~

An officer arrived and quickly saluted. "You called for me, comrade Captain?"

"Where is the American? Has he been found?" They had lost him almost a month ago and his crew had yet to find him.

"Negative, comrade Captain. He is not on any of their normal routes." He delivered the bad news and expected his captain to blow up but was surprised when he did not. Instead he watched him take it out on the map located on the table and observed him studying it closely. Then he reached for the phone and ordered the ship's exec to join them.

"Sir." The exec's rank meant he didn't have to grovel quite as much.

"I want that American. They either know something or are part of this." All this silence had to be their fault. "Set a course for here." He stabbed a spot on his map. "Do not announce ourselves. I do not want him to know we are on his tail." Even if he was not. "NOW!" They were wasting time.

"Sir!" He saluted and left quickly. "Keep your ears open and alert me to anything that is not biological." He waved the exec away and returned to studying his map.

"Where would an American go?" To attack his beloved country. Over three months of complete silence. All of his signals went unanswered and that just was not possible.

~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~

"What are you thinking?" Roberts asked his exec.

"It beats me. No communication of any kind. I checked with sonar just like you asked. They haven't heard anything that isn't a biological for over three months. It's like one of those BBC shows. What happens to the planet if the human race vanished overnight," Lieutenant Michaels answered.

"I saw some of that. My wife was watching it until it bored her and she turned off the telly. As strange as it sounds, that at least answers a number of question, even if impractical." Not to mention down right impossible.

"Do we risk surfacing and putting into port? Gibraltar isn't that far. We could be there in hours." It was their closest port to be honest.

"Sonar still has nothing?" He looked up at him and saw him shake his head.

"Not a sound of shipping for over three months. The crew is starting to talk." So far it was all way out there. Aliens from space. Another asteroid that caused the dinosaurs to go extinct.

"Them and me both." His own mind had gone to a lot of places, none of which actually answered all of his questions.

"Take us here." He pointed to a spot on his map. "When we get there we wait for no moon or very little moon then we surface and try again. Make sure Barbara is on duty. I want our lucky charm awake and active." He was teasing and he knew it.

"His name is Babra, sir, but I'll make sure of it. May luck shine on us." He saluted and left to give orders.

"Luck, the Force. Hell, I'll take anything at this point." He went back to searching his map. This place should be busy. "And where are the bloody Russians?" They couldn't be all alone. His luck wasn't that good.

~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~

"WOW!" Kate walked in on Alexis who was studying all that she could. "Seven screens." Yes, she had cleared the room when they had arrived, but she hadn't really been looking at that. She had been looking for people.

"Impressive, huh? It makes me wish I'd had this back then. I only ever had two screens and thought that was cool." Alexis was liking it.

"So what's on all these screens?" Kate leaned in to start reading. "I thought you were searching for what happened." None of these screens showed what she was anticipating.

"It had me thinking that people would start calling 911, police, fire, ambulances, that sort of thing. So I'm going through various call centers that this place has access to. Being in a command and control room for a battalion chief has its advantages," Alexis explained.

"This one shows the weather west of here and in the Gulf of Mexico. This one is a list of engines that have been dispatched over the last 6 months. This one shows the views of all of the cameras this place has. This one–" Kate's eyes widened in surprise and she interrupted her.

"This place has surveillance cameras?" How had she missed that?

"Yeah, they're practically everywhere. Most are in the engine bay, but a lot of the others show the surrounding area, especially the parking lot. A few are inside.

"This one is the 911 call list that had anything to do with dispatching fire trucks or ambulances–" Kate interrupted her again.

"Is this one what I think it is?" She pointed at a screen.

"If you mean an inventory list that's associated with this fire station, yep. There are six Reedy Creek Fire stations and there's an inventory list for each one. These guys kept a list of EVERYTHING." Alexis still didn't believe it. To do that was a lot of work.

"Anything on how we can put bars on our windows? Maybe metal shutters that we can close at night? The tools we need? What about welding tools?" Anything that would seal this place up tight and let nothing and no one in.

"Not unless it relates to fire fighting. Maybe Disney has something." Alexis began typing again.

"Disney?" What could a theme park and resort have that could help them?

"Well, from what I'm reading, Reedy Fire Station serves pretty much just Disney. They have their own power plant that uses oil. It provides 25% of their power. Someone has to repair the monorails. Repair the steam engines. Repair those shuttles they use to get guests from parking to the entrance.

"Did you know that there are tunnels under Disney that can take you just about anywhere. Or that technically the park is on the second floor. All of it." Alexis watched Kate's shocked face.

"This place used to be a swamp." Alexis had learned a lot and not all of it in this room.

"I don't suppose there is a map for this entire place." They couldn't be that lucky.

Alexis rolled her eyes. "This is a fire station. Of course there's a map." She used her mouse to change a screen and zoom in a little. "This is us." She moved her arrow around a little. "We're on Floridian Way. The other side of Floridian Way is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The far side is Space Mountain."

"Please don't tell your dad that," Kate begged.

Alexis laughed. "He'll figure it out eventually, you know. But he won't hear it from me," she promised.

Kate hugged her quickly. "Thank you."

"What else?" They needed to learn where they were and what was here.

"Lots of hotels, Contemporary, Grand Floridian, Polynesian–" Kate interrupted her yet again.

"Is this dark line the monorail? So where is this line going? And this one?" she inquired.

"Reedy Creek Energy Services," Alexis shrugged. "That's all it says. But those lines stop at this building." This map didn't say much else.

"Is there a Google map of this area? Maybe there's a picture of this area," Kate asked hopefully.

"Where were you when I needed you?" Alexis brought up a satellite map on Google.

"I'm here now. Let's see if we can figure this out. Can you zoom in tight?" Kate watched her press the plus sign a few times.

"Definitely monorail, look at all those lines." Kate pointed to eleven different lines. "There are buildings all over the place back there. This one over here has a lot of docks. Maybe another repair yard? Marina, something."

"Jackpot city." Alexis was all smiles. "Maybe tomorrow. We're going to need more than one truck."

"I know this is an old picture, but I don't think finding another truck is going to be a problem. Maybe even a flat bed." Kate was liking this place. "See if you can find a diesel tanker. Our generator out back is really big and is probably thirsty." She doubted it would last for more than a few hours.

"I'll try. Who's going to drive it?" Alexis would be surprised if any of them had ever driven one.

"We'll worry about that after you find one. First we need to seal this place up. I've died too many times already; I'm tired of it." Kate meant it too, though it made Alexis chuckle a little.

"I can't think of anyone better at finding out what's going on. Maybe you can find someone still alive." Kate patted her shoulders and started to walk away. "OH, and see if you can find a gun store around here somewhere or maybe a pawn shop. I'll feel a whole lot better with a lot more weapons." She turned to leave Alexis to her looking.

Kate had a thought and came back briefly. "Or maybe a National Guard base or naval base that isn't too far away. Maybe a prison. Prisons might have something, besides prisoners."

Alexis began shaking her head but got to work. "KATE!" she yelled and saw her show up at the door. "This place has communications gear. Maybe you can find it and distribute one to everyone. They're probably not on the same channel as the police."

"I'll start looking. Good idea." Kate left her again.

Alexis chose to do a Google search. "Gun store." She had no trouble finding one of those and chose what looked like the closest and maybe easiest to reach, when they had all day to get there and back.

5512 So Orange Blossom Trl, Orlando, FL. 32839

"National Guard." It took Alexis only a minute to find the closest facility.

Richard L. Lewis Armory, 2809 S Ferncreek Ave, Orlando, FL 32806

Kate was back and placed a headset and control on her desk. "Found both." Alexis gave her a wide smile and showed her both. "I think the armory is actually the closest."

"Nice work. Print out how to get there from here. Maybe we can look tomorrow if we have the time. I want to go to that monorail repair building first. Maybe we can find all we need there. Keep up the good work." Kate smiled at her and left again.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"How you doing, Mother?" Rick found her in the kitchen trying to find a corkscrew.

"I'd be better if I could get this open." Martha closed a door and opened a drawer only to have Rick open a cabinet and hand it to her.

He smiled at her. "I saw it earlier while I was cooking."

Martha got busy turning the screw into the cork. "This remind you of anything?" Rick asked.

"The accommodations are better," Martha replied with a slight smile while working the corkscrew to pull the cork.

Rick smiled back. "Larger, too."

"And you didn't complain once." Martha poured her wine and reached for another glass.

"I sometimes miss those days and not just because I was younger," Rick admitted. She looked at him before pouring the second glass. "It was fun helping you practice for some part that you'd just gotten. Your enthusiasm was contagious. You put everything into every part." He could still see those days.

"With each move I always worried whether I was giving you everything you needed. You never asked if one of your friends could come over or ask if you could go there. I worried if you even had any friends. Then there were your grades," Martha commented as she went down memory lane with him willingly.

"Actually most of my friends were backstage while I waited for you. None of the kids at school really wanted to be my friend," Rick said, thinking that his mother already knew that.

"No real girl friends, either." Martha had felt bad about that as well.

He shrugged it off. "Late bloomer. But I finally found someone."

"Katherine. She's been good for you. I know you don't want to hear it, but you two really need to get better at talking to each other." Martha feared they still weren't talking.

"We spent a lifetime together already, Mother. We're talking. …I just wish you could've seen them. Lily, James, and Levi. You would have loved them. All three of them took after their mother." It was one of the things that being all alone with Kate that he wished he could change.

"And now you get to do it all over again. There are people that would kill to do what you are doing, Richard. To live more than one lifetime with the person you love. And don't worry about Alexis, my boy. She's grown up without you. She even had a family of her own, you know. You both get a second chance." Martha was looking forward to that.

"And you, Mother. There might be someone for you." Rick was betting that she had acted like she did because she missed **HIM**.

"He's dead. We had our time. I'll be fine, don't worry about me. Not everyone gets to be young twice." Martha lifted her glass, picked up the other one, and headed for Alexis since she had plans to join her and help look.

He thought about stopping her. Alexis was sixteen, after all. Yet she really wasn't. She had lived a life just like he had. "And I missed all of it, too." That was something that had to change this time.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"Is there any more of that?" Kate had passed Martha as she walked out with two glasses. "Alexis has found us a place to go tomorrow morning. It looks like a maintenance yard for the monorails. We might find just what we need." She started pouring a glass then didn't say anything more...for quite a while.

Rick was a bit concerned. It wasn't like Kate to be this quiet. "Are you okay?"

"It's strange. I've lived a life, had children, and died… **again**. Yet here I am even younger than I was when my mother died and it's a few years short of 2100." She downed the rest of her wine. It was a future she had never dreamed of even her nightmares.

"And I still love you." Kate walked up to Rick and looked up at him. "Are we going to live long enough to have another full life?"

He pulled her in close, wrapped his arms around her, and felt hers around him. "We're going to be amazing. Wait and see." Rick may have had a full life with her, but one wasn't ever going to be enough.


	20. Chapter 20

**Found - 4**

Kate hadn't liked it but she had to agree that while everyone was young, including herself, since she was betting she was 18 or maybe 19, that everyone was actually older than they looked. So she had let Alexis take the first shift. Castle had been second and she was last shift. Martha hadn't even offered and Kate hadn't pushed her.

On her second cup of coffee, she savored every last drop as she looked out one of the windows. Thanks to their location all she really saw was trees. The lights of Disney had been visible all night long. It had been a very quiet night and given their location being right next to a major attraction, that was really weird.

She started to see signs of the sun coming up which meant getting everyone up so they could start the day. What little they knew suggested that being out after the sun had gone down was dangerous. Her sticking point was that they were basing everything on a movie. "We're living in a catastrophe movie." She shook her head. First came figuring out how to just survive for now. What came later would handle itself.

"Castle," Kate whispered while leaning down. Like she was used to he just kept right on sleeping. It made her smile. When the kids had been little he woke up at the drop of a pin. When they were older he could sleep through a thunderstorm.

He looked so young and so handsome. It took her back to seeing his picture on a wall in a bar. He was even younger now than he was then. "Castle." She played with his ear and still asleep, he swatted at her hand. As cute as he was they had a lot of work to do. "Castle." She considered twisting his ear to wake him up but decided on kissing him instead. It took a number of kisses before he opened his eyes.

"Did I die again? You look like an angel," Rick murmured.

It was cheesy and she knew it. She was a teenager and yet wasn't. "Thanks, Castle. Up and in the shower, babe. We have a lot of work to do and we need to learn our way around. I'll get Alexis and Martha." Kate gave him a quick kiss and left him to get ready.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Breakfast had been full of fruit since they didn't know how much longer they were going to have any that was fresh. Right now Rick was driving the truck while Alexis told him when to turn which so far she hadn't had to do until they reached the first four way stop. "Left, Dad. We want that building to the right." Alexis pointed and looked it over. There were a few cars and trucks parked on the side but there also didn't look to be a lot of doors. "Right at the end." Just after turning, Rick went slow so they could look it over. "This is the place." Alexis smiled as they all saw a big sign on the building that said **Disney Kingdom Maintenance**.

Rick stopped and Kate climbed out of the bed. Truth be told Kate was hoping for a massive bank of roll up doors, all of which would be open. What they had, at least on this side, was what looked like a single story office and three roll up doors. Except for the office there were no windows.

"We want inside. The question is how." Kate looked it over. "Through the office maybe?" She hated it since it likely meant lots of walls and lots of places for people to hide.

Rick walked up to one of the roll up doors and found nothing. There was a man door to the right under a large canopy. "Hold up, Castle." She stopped him from opening the door. "If this place follows the movies, it will be dark inside and possibly filled with infected."

"The sun's up." He waved his hand at it, already deciding that since it was up that it was safe.

"OUTSIDE Castle, on the OUTSIDE." Kate was ready to shoot him.

"So what do you suggest?" If it wasn't safe what did she want him to do?

"We need to find out if the power is still on here first," Alexis suggested. "There should be a light switch just inside the door. Open it, flip the switch, and run…away." She certainly didn't mean run inside the building.

Moments later Martha was back in the truck with Alexis ready to open the door and Rick and Kate with weapons out and at the ready. "One…two…three!" Alexis opened the door and felt for a light switch. Finding it she flipped it, saw some lights come on and then ran for the truck.

The lights revealed a sight they really hadn't been prepared for and it had both of them turning and putting their backs up against the outside wall. Rick was ready to curse a blue streak. "Son of a bitch! What the fuck was **that**?" The door swung back closed on them since Alexis had had to pull it open.

Kate shook her head. "Lots of naked people?" Though, technically if she had been asked, most if not all at least had pants on, but that was all. "There were a lot of them." She was betting at least a dozen if not more.

"If we can get the roll ups open…" Rick was thinking that would let a lot of sunshine in.

"Locked?" Kate questioned. If so, that would mean they would never get them open.

He didn't think they were locked. "This happened fast, remember. This place was probably open and running when the zombies showed up."

"Infected, Castle, not zombies. And no, your zombie costume isn't going to work here. They're infected, not dead." She remembered that he'd loved that case.

"I don't have it on me anymore, anyway. So electric roll up or manual, or both?" Rick queried.

Kate thought about it. "I'll cover you while you open. But when I tell you to run, you run. Got it? We're not even married in this world yet and I don't want to be a widow."

"Technically I'll be infected not dead so I can't be a zombie." Using her own words against her wasn't wise and he got a patented Kate Beckett glare. "Open while you cover, got it."

Rick was ready. "One…two…three." Kate aimed her weapon, watched him run inside in front of her, blocking any shot she had for a moment. She did see something but they were far away.

Soon she heard the sound of a roll up door going up followed by two more. It also allowed a lot more light into the space. Kate stepped inside and stood in front of one of the open roll ups and looked over the interior. It looked like a maintenance shop, all right. It was an enormous open space that had a mezzanine made of open metal floors and railing where they could see the monorails on the far side.

"More doors?" Rick asked since they only had three though they could see a little sunshine on the far side. "I've got four more." He indicated the doors just to his left.

Kate moved down to that end and stood at the end of the sunshine. "Go," she called out and soon heard four more roll ups going up.

He went outside to look farther down the wall and came back inside. "There are four more just beyond this." Rick motioned to the window-filled space that also had a second floor.

She didn't want to go any deeper without clearing what looked to be an office space. "Maybe we can find something outside, crash through one of the doors, and then open the others," Kate offered instead.

Rick liked it so he went outside to look around. He found a forklift and was looking it over.

"Do you know what you're doing, babe?"

"It has a key." He got in the seat and started it up. He began grinning and spun the wheel. Putting his foot on the gas had him suddenly moving out of control. Kate bolted before one of his forks speared her.

"Speed, Castle, use your weight," Kate yelled. After he ran around a little and raised and lowered the forks, he turned and drove headlong into the first roll up door. His forks went through the door and he dented it pretty good. He backed up and ran around to try it again. He crashed into it again. It broke and partially fell on the forklift's safety cage while giving way and he was inside.

Kate didn't bother to check if he was okay; she ran for the other doors and started pressing buttons. Soon they had light pouring in from two sides.

She watched Castle extract himself from his forklift then looked around and saw Alexis and Martha on the far end. " **NEVER LEAVE THE SUNLIGHT!** " she bellowed at them and saw Alexis wave her hand, signaling that she'd heard her.

"You okay, Castle?" Kate ran her hands over him.

"That was cool! Definitely an "E" ticket," he proclaimed which had Kate chuckling softly.

"Tools first, let's see what we've got."

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

They had five more roll up doors open and these five were all under monorail lines that entered the building on the second floor with metal mesh walkways and railings on all sides. The other side of the building and that one corner under the other monorail lines they left alone.

Kate was beginning to hate this place. She kept spinning and raising her weapon at every little sound or even when there was no sound. "Jumpy?" Rick was close to her as he watched Alexis and Martha rolling a huge tool chest outside and over to the truck.

"I can't help it. We're not alone in here and the sooner we're gone, the better I'll like it." She took a peek at the dark zone again. She didn't see anything, but she just knew there was something there.

She pointed to a cart. "Fill that with all the power tools you can find and take it out to the truck." She saw another and pushed it over to a different place and started loading it up with what looked like square stainless steel tubes that were about 6 to 8 feet long.

She didn't know how but they'd managed to get that huge multi-drawered chest full of tools up in the back of the truck. "Can you get it back out again?" She looked at it and noticed that the truck was riding low in the back. Kate wasn't sure she wanted to add more weight. "Do we need another truck?"

Rick dangled a set of keys in front of her. She smiled but she had a question. "Where is it?"

"One way to find out." He was betting it was close even if it wasn't a fob, which ruled out a lot of the cars and trucks out there. He did a fist pump. The first small flat bed truck he found started. He turned it off and Kate began emptying her cart onto it.

"There's a lot more of this, go load up." Kate really liked this stuff and hoped to use it to create bars over their windows. They just needed a way to secure it to the wall. The only drawback was that they had a lot of windows to cover.

"The flatbed is yours, Castle. I'll take the truck back to the fire station." They had practically emptied the bins holding all of the square rods.

"I'll start on dinner since we missed lunch," Alexis said, leaving the unloading to her dad, Kate, and Martha. She was just a kid after all.

Kate learned how Rick and Martha had gotten the tool chest up into the truck. They'd removed all of the drawers and slid it off the back of the truck before putting the drawers back in and rolling it into one of the truck bays.

They left the flatbed to be emptied until tomorrow.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate found Alexis in the day room with the TV remote in her hand, pushing buttons. "What are you doing?"

"Just searching. You never know if you don't look." Alexis turned off the TV and tossed the remote into a chair. "The wasn't anything on radio, either. There has to be somebody, somewhere. If it's just us four, the human race is doomed. You may have Dad–" Kate broke in, then came close, and hugged her.

She held onto her. "There has to be someone, Alexis. I've lived a life and died three times. I didn't do that for nothing. Don't give up yet. What would your grandmother think?

"I remember when Lily was your age. I thought she was trying to drive me crazy on purpose. Then she met someone and changed into a whole new person overnight. The same can happen to you. There are just too many people on this planet for all of them infected." Kate didn't let go of her.

"Thanks, Kate. Did I ever tell you that we had a funeral for Dad? Everyone Grams and I knew came. Everyone, except my mother." Alexis wasn't done but Kate hugged her a little tighter.

"I'm so sorry, Alexis." Kate really didn't know what to do or say. She barely knew Meredith.

"I gave up on my mother that day. I never talked to her again. Since Grams and I moved to Nassau she didn't get to just show up and ruin everything." Alexis was so over her.

"Oh, that was also where I met the man who offered me the job being the guide in the Void," Alexis said. Kate let go of her so she could look at her.

"Who was he?" Kate had never seen him and Rick hadn't even said anything about him.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Alexis was sure she would never guess. "I don't think it was him, not really him, but he looks exactly like Lord Voldemort." Alexis made a face. She'd never really thought about him much, but he wasn't evil…not really.

"Harry Potter!" Was that even an option? "Is all of this magic? And yes, your dad taught me magic," Kate told her.

"I know, I saw your grave markers. I hired someone to try and hunt you and your children down. He never did find any living relatives in my time." It reminded her that she was all alone with no family except for the family she made for herself.

"I'm sure Castle would have all kinds of answers for that. Most would start with three letters," Kate said and smiled.

"Aliens is six letters." Alexis smiled back at her, getting Kate to laugh at her.

"Dinner, ladies. If you would, please find my mother." He hadn't seen her. "What's so funny?" Those two were laughing for some reason.

"You, Dad, just you." Alexis tried to hide her smile while Kate began laughing her head off at the look on Rick's face.

"Stir fry with chicken fried rice." Rick let everyone take how much they wanted while he took his last and would put leftovers in the refrigerator.

"I have an idea for those square posts you brought home," he said between bites. "For the windows on the ground floor." They didn't actually have windows above the ground floor, but they did have louvers allowing air into the attic space.

"I was thinking we take the longest ones and put them in the ground, then put cross members to cover the windows. We dig holes and pour in concrete to hold them in place. As close to the building as we can. We can even build them in the truck bay first before putting them in the ground." Pleased, Rick smiled at his plan.

Kate thought about it. "We wouldn't have to figure out how to secure them to the walls. Not bad, Castle." She was in if they could do it his way. "By the way, you're digging the holes," she informed him. Alexis and Martha burst out laughing at the look he was giving Kate.

Kate saw a problem, though. "It means we add a trip to Home Depot or Lowes for concrete to our list, which might be bad. No windows, so no sunlight."

"Then we search for smaller places. Hopefully we'll find one with a front wall of all windows," Alexis said as Kate looked at her. "I'll start looking. …I suppose you want to go to that National Guard Armory tomorrow, too."

"Something was inside that Disney building. They ran at the sunlight. So yeah, I want more weapons and all the ammunition we can carry. I still need to teach Martha how to shoot." They didn't have the ammunition to spare to use for training. Kate saw the look Martha was giving her. "That face isn't going to keep you from ending up infected, Martha." Martha's look quickly disappeared.

"Think of it as getting ready for a part, Mother. Just more noisy," Rick suggested.

"Dad taught me, Grams, and Kate's **so** much better." Alexis hadn't meant to insult her dad but she had.

"No ice cream for you, daughter of mine," he fired back.

"I…I… "Alexis hadn't meant to. "I'm a big girl, I'll get my own ice cream. Or I can steal from you." She grinned a very cocky grin at her dad.

Kate leaned in toward Martha and whispered, "Does this happen often?"

Rick and Alexis answered her question at the same time with a resounding, "YES!" Kate smiled at what was coming in her future. She wasn't married and she wasn't pregnant and yet she already had a family. It felt good.


	21. Chapter 21

**Found - 5**

Rick was working on yet another hole in the ground up against the building as he listened to the sound of gunfire. He had spent the last three days digging while listening to Kate teaching Martha how to shoot. He still had more holes to dig followed by constructing the window barriers in the truck bay.

Alexis showed up and offered up a glass of what looked like lemonade. "Here you go, Dad." However, the fact that it was filled with ice is what had him. Working outside in the Florida sunshine was hard.

"Thanks, pumpkin." Rick took it gladly and chugged it down in seconds. He sighed as he handed it back empty. That had hit the spot. "How goes the search?" he asked before getting back to work.

"Stationary locations like Kate's armory are easy. Finding a tanker filled with gas that moves is a lot harder. We might need to think up an alternative." Alexis was willing to listen to options.

"Plus if we can't find one, we need that alternative before the power goes out on us. Gas stations may still have a lot of gas, but it's all in tanks in the ground." Meaning they needed a pump that required power.

Rick's mind went straight to a small gas can followed by still more small gas cans. Then repeat again and again. He looked down at the latest hole. "If we have to, we have to." He'd done a lot of work to build them a house. Moving gas sounded a lot easier.

"How's Grams doing?" They could still hear weapons fire.

"Mother has stopped complaining so I guess it's going well." He hadn't asked Kate how she was doing. "What about you? When do you plan on getting in your practice?" he inquired, knowing full well his daughter had found something at that armory.

"Tomorrow. I'm planning on joining Grams." Alexis was actually a little excited about it.

"Are you sure you can handle that thing? It's almost as big as you are." He wasn't sure it was the weapon for her. Even the rounds were big in her little hands.

"I plan on lying on the ground when I fire it, so I'll be fine." Alexis had no plans to actually try to fire it while standing, let alone holding it. She had no illusions about what it was going to take. "I just need to select a target. I've done some research and it's capable of hitting targets up to two miles away." Since they were surrounded by trees she hadn't worked that out just yet.

" _Two miles?"_ Rick looked around to see just where she could be to fire even half that distance.

"There are those line of containers on that side road we saw earlier." They had driven around and around to get used to their immediate area. They had learned that the trees were thick around them. They had also found a back area behind Frontier Land Railroad Station that they had yet to search.

Alexis thought about it. "I could maybe set up just outside the front door." She tried to picture it. "Thanks, Dad. I'm going to go look before going back inside." She left him and headed for the front of the building.

Rick was digging yet another hole when Kate showed up. "What's Alexis doing?" She had spotted her lying on the ground on her stomach.

"Lining up a shot at those containers on the side of that trail for her new toy."

Kate thought about it and liked the idea. "We need to remind her to wear ear plugs when she fires that thing." Kate had questioned her choice as well, but hadn't fought against it as much as Rick had.

"Maybe for all of us?" Rick added which earned him a glare from Kate. "It's almost as big as she is. What does she plan on shooting with that thing anyway?" He didn't see a use for it.

"Don't let Javi hear you say that." Kate knew Javi had been a sniper during the war.

Somehow his entire body sagged. "And once again all of our friends are either dead or not yet born."

Kate knew he was sweaty and probably stinky, much like he was when they were building their home, but she stepped into him to hug him. "We made new friends last time, we'll make new friends again."

After dropping the post hole digger, Rick wrapped his arms around her and let her strength hold him up. "If they aren't all zombies," he grumbled.

"There were six billion people on this planet, Castle, and they're infected, **not** zombies. No more than those kids were real zombies; no matter how much you wanted them to be. Please tell me you didn't go on one of those zombie walks." Kate looked up at him and buried her face in his chest. "You did, didn't you?" Rick started to explain. "No, don't tell me. My stupid husband went on a zombie walk because he wanted to be dead." She just knew he had.

"My mother is an actress, you know," he said in his defense.

Kate didn't see how that helped. She let go of him. "More holes, babe. I'm going to start taking measurements so we know how big to build each one before we make a mistake." She began to leave.

"How's Mother?" Meaning was she learning.

"A police officer she'll never be, but she's starting to hit what she aims for." What she didn't know was what Martha would do when they were being attacked by the infected. No one truly knew what they would do when the time came. Talk was cheap.

"A word of advice. She's an actress. Try to talk to her like a director. Be nice to her or be mean to her. Mother has dealt with both."

"Thanks, Castle." Kate had worried about just how hard to push Martha. "Be a hard case director." She could do that. Provided that Martha didn't learn to hate her because of it. "Maybe not that hard." She went inside to search for a tape measure and pen and paper.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

As had become the norm, they were sitting at the dining table to eat dinner before they started taking turns so that someone was always up at night. That would only stop when they were sure the building was secure. This was the time when they talked about what they'd accomplished and what they had yet to do, as well as how to do that.

Rick went first. "The holes are done and we have all the bags of Quikrete that we'll need plus a little extra."

Kate added, "I have the measurements for each window now, too."

"I've got an idea on how to move the diesel but not what to store it in long term. You remember that truck that had a big plastic tank on the back?" Alexis asked.

Rick nodded. "The landscape guy."

"We can empty it, fill it with diesel and drive it here, then repeat. Just two things. One, we need something to transfer that diesel into and two, we need to find an additive to for the diesel. My research tells me that diesel will last about 3 to 5 months, 6 to 8 months with the additive. At any rate diesel cannot be expected to last longer than a year under any circumstances." She had good and bad news.

"However, by 1970s bio fuel was being used more and more. That alone creates a number of questions. What was it made from? How is it stored? Direct sunlight will cause it to degrade really fast. What is the temperature? Some biodiesel can last twice as long. But we can't mix the two long term.

"If our generator is meant for diesel we can use biodiesel if we have to…but only once." Alexis held up a finger.

"Don't the trucks we have run on diesel?" Martha questioned.

Alexis replied, "Most of them, yes. The big ones. The others use standard unleaded gasoline and we did find some unleaded gas in cans."

"We have a plan for the windows but what do we do about all the doors?" Kate had given up on to how to secure the big roll up doors.

Alexis offered a solution. "We could go back to the place we got the concrete from and look at their doors. Or I could search for cast iron storm doors."

Kate tried to picture the doors that place had. None of them looked like what she wanted. "Can you search please? That would be great." Alexis included it in her list of things to do.

"Groceries tomorrow?" Rick queried since four adult mouths were going through food fast. "Maybe nothing but fresh while it lasts and augment what we have to with canned. We still have a fair amount of meat and so long as the power's on, we can raid their freezers. Though I'm thinking we should try and find a vacuum sealer. What we put in the freezer would last longer."

"We can find them anyplace that sells kitchen goods." Alexis added it to her growing list of things to search for.

~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~

"What have you got, Jarod?" The captain had gotten the message and was thankful that finally his risk maybe paying off.

Jarod didn't answer, mutely handing him something that he printed off. Knowing that while paper was to only be used for command orders, he thought this was important.

The captain couldn't miss the big word splashed across the top: **INFECTION!** He tried to read fast and Jarod was willing to let him, however, he had a time constraint. "There's more, Captain. You asked me to think outside the box." Jarod waited until he had his full attention. "I've found a site where someone's posting messages at the same time each day, based on their history. Then next one is in…" he looked at his watch, "two minutes."

The captain went back to reading and he wasn't liking what he saw. It had him reaching for the phone. "Exec, report to the communications room immediately." He put the phone back in place.

"Thirty seconds, sir," Jarod advised.

"Captain." Morrison was just a touch out of breath as he had run down from the bridge, yelling at everyone to get out of his way along the way. All he got was a piece of paper shoved into his chest. He barely heard Jarod talking as he started reading.

"The message is up, Captain." Jarod leaned to one side to allow him to read.

"This is live?" the captain questioned and heard Jarod's confirmation. "Ask them if they have video and audio capability." Impatient, the captain watched him type the message and saw the almost instantaneous reply.

"Give me a minute."

"Set it up, Jarod," the captain ordered, knowing that trying to keep this a secret on this boat was going to be impossible. He was going to have to give a boatwide announcement after this anyway.

"Communications established, Captain." He motioned at a small monitor to one side that had the captain looking to see what was displayed. To say that he was shocked would be an understatement. What was on his little monitor was a lovely teenager with long orange hair and a not much older young woman right behind her with long brown hair.

"I'm Captain Jeffrey Zimmerman of the SSBN Columbia."

He saw the older woman lean down. "SSBN?" Kate asked Alexis.

"Ballistic missile submarine. The Columbia was the first of her class." Alexis knew about it from her previous life and was a little surprised that it was still operational since it launched somewhere around 2031.

That little exchange already told him a lot. "I was hoping you could help us with some additional information." He snatched the 8-1/2 x 11" piece of paper from his exec and held it up for them to see.

"The infection." Kate now understood why Alexis had yelled for her over the communication system that each of them wore everywhere. "Alexis?" Kate knew Alexis knew more than she did.

Her eyes wide with alarm, Alexis looked up at Kate like she was nuts. That was why she had yelled for her to come.

"FINE!" Alexis would shoot Kate later. "A pharmaceutical company located in Germany developed a cure for cancer. They sold it worldwide for an astronomical price. At the prices they were charging for it I'm betting that they recovered their research costs on the first production run.

"Most of the first run was sold in Europe, Russian, China, and Dubai. I haven't yet found how it got FDA approval so quickly, but the last of the first run was sold here in the States. If you've read that, you've found out that the cure had a nasty side effect." Alexis paused to give him a chance to speak.

"It talks about these infected going on a killing spree. Three month incubation I can understand, but where is everyone?" These two were the first live people outside of his boat he had talked with.

"Yes, about that." Alexis knew this was going to go badly. "The infected aren't just infected, they're also carriers." Alexis and even Kate cringed.

He thought about that for a moment. "GOOD GOD!" Kate and Alexis watch his face fall and his mouth open wide.

Alexis took a breath and exhaled. She really didn't want to have to tell him such horrific news. She started with, "As I'm sure you can gather the police would be a first responder. They no doubt would shoot, causing a certain amount of blood spray."

"Infecting all the first responders." The captain had no trouble keeping up.

" _FUCKING HELL!"_ Jarod whispered; the captain turned to look at him. "Sorry, sir." He turned his head to stare at his screen.

"Next would be the National Guard who would use larger weapons at larger groups." Alexis saw him begin to think about that.

The captain looked puzzled. "I'm following all that but that leaves me with a question."

"How did it happen so fast given that with the first infected it took 3 months if not longer," Alexis guessed; he nodded. "To be honest we're having a little trouble with that as well."

Kate spoke for the first time. "Our working theory is that after people were initially infected, the infection mutated. So instead of taking 3 months it only took hours if not minutes for the infection to start making changes."

The captain was still having a problem. "Being a carrier helps explain a lot, but there are a lot of people that aren't commonly among the general public." He knew admirals, generals and other high military or even cabinet members would be that open to being infected.

"You're forgetting, sir, what being a carrier means and how long the infection lives in… say blood or skin or even a cough," Alexis said, using her years as an ME in Nassau to explain.

The captain considered her words. "The Secret Service or FBI would go out to gather certain members of the government or military. They have to fight to get in and out. The cars they use become infected on the outside. Several, if not all, would touch a contaminated door handle, perhaps. Once inside they spread the contagion and suddenly people who thought they were in a safe place, are no longer." He could see it.

"Plus they only have moments before finding out that it has reached them so they start running–" Alexis continued only to be interrupted.

"The Secret Service would fire to protect them and spread the infection even further and take it with them on their clothing. Our Command and Control would be infected about as fast as they find out about the danger." The captain started cursing internally. But he didn't miss seeing his XO take a phone call.

"The infected do **not** like the sunlight, Captain. If for whatever reason you decide to stop at a port, remember – **stay out of the dark**. We have yet to actually see one face to face, though we have heard them and _they are everywhere there is darkness_ _,_ _"_ Kate said just before his attention was taken from them.

"Sonar has a contact, sir, headed our direction, running deep. The computer suggests a Yasen class," Morrison informed his captain.

"I have to go. If we survive we will be back in touch. May I ask where you are?" Then he turned to his XO. "Order a crash dive, take us to crush depth." Then he turned back to Kate and Alexis.

"Reedy Creek Fire Station number 3, just outside of Disney World," Alexis replied.

"Good luck, Captain," Kate added quickly.

"Monitor all communications. If that Russian so much as coughs I want to know about it." The captain began running to the bridge, starting to feel the boat pitch down.

He had options running though his head after he lost this Russian. He didn't need fuel, or air, but he did need perishables. "Report," he called out once he reached the bridge.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate clapped her hands. "So we're not alone after all."

Alexis hated to dump cold water on her enthusiasm. "A Yasen class is a Russian attack sub, Kate. The first one entered service in 2013; there were still a lot of them in the late 2070s."

She stopped celebrating. "And our American?" Did they stand a chance?

"His boat is a Columbia class ballistic missile boat. The first of the class was in 2027, his." Alexis knew a lot. "It's designed to travel undetected. I'm sure he'll be fine." Alexis waved Kate off, not noticing that she did it just like Martha did.

"He'd better," Kate said softly. "What are the chances that only he and this Russian are all that are out there?"

"If this is you asking if I can hack the Naval Command, the answer is no." Alexis rolled her eyes. Even she had her limits.

"No, I mean, yes. That is… I'm going to go find Castle and Martha and give them the good news." Kate made a quick withdrawal.

"Good luck, Captain," Alexis murmured to her monitors.


	22. Chapter 22

**Found - 6**

Kate had Alexis with her and they had the flat bed truck while Rick and Martha had their original truck. Rick and Martha's task was to find all the diesel fuel stabilization stuff they could. Alexis had given them a picture as well as a couple of addresses and a map to reach each of them.

Kate and Alexis were on the hunt for some wrought iron storm doors. Kate had the dimensions and so far they had just the one. But was it was starting to get late. "One quick look, and even if they have some, we'll come back tomorrow to see if we can find the right one," she promised as Alexis was watching the sun go down.

Alexis, however, remained silent and watched Kate drive. The road was a mess everywhere as usual, it seemed. Kate parked out in the street in front of the address. "This is the place. We need to be fast, one quick look and then we run." She got out of the truck followed closely by Alexis.

They both stopped and looked at the building. It had a glass front but the sun was almost behind the building even if it was three stories tall. "It looks dark…inside," Alexis commented, beginning to think it was already too late.

Kate pointed to other lights that were still on in the area. "The power is still on." They just needed to find the switches. Though she feared they would be in the back. "Maybe a little window shopping." Just a quick look and then they would leave.

Kate went left while Alexis went toward the door. She was suddenly surprised when a little dog showed up. It got between her and the door and started barking its head off at the interior.

"SHUSH!" He or she was making far too much noise. The dog looked like a puppy, a retriever of some kind and he wouldn't shut up. Alexis looked up and was stunned and scared almost out of her mind. "Kate," she croaked, continuing to stare at what was just inside the door. Alexis found her voice. " **KATE!** " Kate ran up to her and pulled out her weapon to look at what was just inside the door while the dog continued to bark loudly.

They both stared at it. Alexis was paralyzed with fear and Kate was analyzing him. He had no hair on his head. He was completely white, almost an albino. His only clothes were some tattered pants, no shoes or socks. It was his eyes; they almost glowed they were so red.

"Get in the truck, Alexis." They needed to leave and they needed to leave **now**. "ALEXIS!" She needed to get moving. Kate gave her a push and the girl ran for the truck.

Kate never took his eyes off him and she could swear he never took his eyes off her. She heard the truck door open but she didn't hear it close. She also didn't hear the dog stop barking. Then she heard Alexis. "Come here, puppy, come on." Alexis clapped her hands and gave him a little whistle.

Kate watched the dog turn its head and then go back to barking until Alexis called again. He or she whipped around and ran past her. Kate went back to looking at him and caught herself from shrieking. He had moved right up to the door where it was still dark.

She could shoot him but she feared that there were a lot more and he seemed to be getting bolder. She kept her eyes on his while she edged toward the truck.

Alexis was in the truck with her rather shaky arms around the dog. Kate started the truck and started driving. "We've got just over an hour to get home." She began kicking herself for pushing it this far.

"Was that what I think it was?" Alexis asked, holding the dog a little tighter.

"An infected? I think so. Not exactly what I was expecting." Kate had visions of what an infected looked like and that wasn't one of them.

"He did look a lot like what was in the movies, though. Except for the eyes." Alexis shuddered. "I don't remember them being that red. The movies had them being somewhat stupid, bumbling idiots."

"Our guy back there didn't strike me as either one." At that moment Kate began to believe they truly were in trouble. Big trouble. "Who's your new friend?" The pup looked to be perfectly happy to be right where it was.

"Isn't he brave?" Alexis hugged and kissed him which got her a few puppy kisses. "I think I'll name him Bear. He was brave like a bear." Alexis ruffled his hair and he laid his head in her lap.

"Are you sure it's a he? Regardless, we'll find him a pet store tomorrow," Kate said and saw the look Alexis was giving her. "To get him food, his own dishes, a bed, flea and tick stuff, dog toys, tennis balls, a Frisbee or two," Kate said, watching Alexis go back to petting him.

"He looks a lot like Royal," Kate commented as she drove.

"That dog you and Dad shared for a little while, right? Wasn't he a drug dog?" Alexis thought she remembered that day.

"He was being trained to find drugs being brought into the country, yes." His nose had helped them close the case.

"Good, that means Dad won't mind if we keep him." It also meant Alexis didn't need to use her puppy dog eyes to convince her dad.

"He does **not** pee and poop inside." Kate pointed a finger at both of them and saw a wide smile start across Alexis's face. "But he is a good guard dog." Kate had to admit that.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

They had only just managed to stop in front of one of the roll up doors when Rick and Martha came bursting out the front door. Neither Kate nor Alexis even had a chance to open their doors when they were opened for them. Kate was being hugged by Rick and Alexis was being hugged by Martha.

"You scared the hell out of me…us." Rick gave her a shake. He was done hugging and ready to give Kate a piece of his mind. "It's dark out here, let's get inside." He stepped down and back to allow Kate out of the truck.

Kate was only just now thinking about what Rick and Martha had gone through since the sun had set and they hadn't yet come back. She knew he was going to rip her a new one and she deserved it.

"And who's this?" Martha watched Alexis do her best to get out of the truck while carrying…"Is that a dog?" Technically Martha knew it was a dog, it was just such a surprise.

"His name is Bear. Isn't he cute?" Bear was doing his best to get out of her arms so he could greet Martha.

"Handsome, Alexis, handsome," Martha corrected. She reached down to pet him and her hand was thoroughly licked. Martha looked around. "Better come inside." It was dark out.

"I'm sorry, Castle, I screwed up. I made a mistake." She should never have gone to that last store.

"You're damn right you screwed up! It's dark out there. Yes, I know you can take care of yourself, but that was a lifetime ago and you're not 30 anymore. You scared the hell out of me, Kate! Are you even listening to me?" Rick had been pacing while giving her a piece of his mind until he stopped to glare at her.

Very unexpectedly, there was a dog jumping up and down on him. "Sorry Dad, he's just excited." Alexis raced in to pick him up and got licked for her trouble. "His name is Bear."

Rick found himself off balance. He was giving Kate a piece of his mind because of her actions and here was his daughter who was not only uninjured but had come home with a…puppy. "Bear?" Had he heard correctly?

"It's a good name and he's as brave as a bear. He saved us. I'm going to take him out into the truck bay so he can pee and poop." It was too dark to go back outside.

Rick watched her calling Bear to follow her as she coaxed him toward the truck bay.

"It's actually a funny story," Kate began. Rick faced toward her looking more furious than he had ever been in the past. "We're fine, Castle. Almost nothing happened." She started kicking herself for her big mouth. They had started talking in their previous life and she had gotten used to it. So naturally she said something she shouldn't have.

" **ALMOST!** " he exploded, glaring at her.

"Give her a chance to explain, Richard. I'm going to go rescue that bottle of wine. …Fire station, rescue." Martha thought it was great. She patted her son's arm as she left those two to work it out.

Martha heard Kate snort at her joke. "Be nice, Richard, they came back alive."

Kate watched Martha walk away and saw Rick just standing there. He was right to be mad, just maybe not this mad. "I'm sorry, Castle. We were just going to have one quick look to find out if we needed to come back and then leave. We would have been home in time.

"But the dog showed up and started barking and then we saw an infected–" Rick interrupted her.

" _You_ _ **saw**_ _one!"_ Now he was full of questions and not nearly as angry.

"It was just the one. He was bald, wearing some really ratty pants and not much else. He was mostly white everywhere except for his red eyes. They were like right out of a horror movie. They looked like they actually glowed." It was impossible of course and Kate was betting it was because of the white skin all around them.

"He didn't make a sound, just stood there at the edge of the door in the dark. Actually it was the dog that spotted him first. Nothing happened, he just stood there.

"He didn't look anything like your zombie costume." Kate was willing to admit that it did look kind of dead…or undead. "It was just the one, Castle, and we were both armed."

Rick couldn't stay mad; he was relieved that they were both home so he hugged her. He felt her melt into him and it was causing a reaction so he let go of her quickly. "Dinner, I was thinking steaks, baked potatoes, and something." Rick left and hurried to the kitchen.

Kate stood there wondering what happened right up until she was being pawed by a happy pup. She bent down to ruffle his fur.

"Sorry he got away from me. …Was Dad mad?" He shouldn't have taken it all out on Kate. Alexis had agreed to stop for a quick look.

"He'll get over it." Kate looked toward the kitchen while petting Bear.

~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~

 **This section is rated M for a reason.**

 _ **Reader discretion is strongly advised.**_

~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~

The fire station had a residential washer and dryer near the sleeping area and they'd put both to use during their time there.

The sleeping area in the station house was broken into two sections; each had five beds inside semi-enclosed spaces. The walls went up to the ceiling, however, neither of them had doors. Each bed was a twin bed. At the end of the bed was a foot locker that they could store their personal items in and lock them.

Since there was one man and three women Rick had taken one side while the women had taken the other. Kate hadn't objected. She was pretty sure neither of them knew just how to handle this situation.

She walked into his bedroom with the intention of finding out what had happened to him after they got back and he was done yelling at her. "Castle?" She saw him quickly pull the covers up and slap a pillow over his groin. She tilted her head while she tried to process what he'd just done. Kate walked up to him and pulled the pillow away. It revealed the erection that he'd tried to hide. "Rick…how long has this been happening?" she asked him softly. She knelt down so that they were more eye to eye. He hadn't said a word yet. "Rick?"

"Since the first day," he admitted. It had been a while since he'd felt this level of desire. He was getting erections at what felt like the drop of a hat.

"RICK! Why didn't you say something? I'm your wife, it's my job to care for you, to love you." Kate ripped his sheet off, unveiling his erection. She was pleased to see that while she had made love to him a lot and had memorized every inch of his body including his cock, it looked a lot like what she remembered.

"I wasn't sure… I mean, this is a different life. I didn't want to presume." If she didn't want to be married to him she didn't have to be.

"You're serious?" Kate didn't believe it. He was either the stupidest man she had ever met or he was still the sweetest man she had ever met. "Wait, was this why you ran off to the kitchen to start work on dinner? You barely said a word all night."

She reached out, wrapped her fingers around his hard cock, and rubbed a finger over the slit at the top, knowing that it used to be his most sensitive spot. Hearing him sharply draw in a breath told her nothing had changed.

"I'll make myself clear then. Marry me, Castle." Kate leaned in to place his cock in her mouth so that she could swirl her tongue around it.

She heard an, "OH GOD!" followed by a sound that she didn't understand. She let his cock pop out of her mouth and looked. Castle had a pillow over his face. She smiled broadly before going back to giving his cock the tongue lashing it so richly deserved.

Kate loved the sound of his muffled cries as she licked up and down his hard cock. Suddenly he went rigid and arched up off the bed. She still had a hand around his cock and saw him climax like a shot. She scrambled to place his cock back in her mouth so that she could get every last drop.

She was still licking his cock clean when she felt Rick's hand running through her hair. "Don't move, Castle." She'd noticed that she was soaking wet and it was from just giving him a blow job.

Kate climbed up onto his bed, straddled him, and bent down to kiss him. "Was that a yes?" She smiled into his lips. She wanted an answer to her question.

"We can go dress shopping tomorrow. I'd marry you any day of any year," Rick whispered hoarsely.

"Good to know." Kate kissed him and reached down to hold his still hard cock; she lifted up to place him at her opening. She slowly pushed herself down on him and couldn't believe the feeling. It had been so long. "GOD, RICK, you're so big." She kept pushing little by little. He was spreading her lips wide.

She kept on until she was certain that all of him was inside her. She took his hands and brought them to her breasts as she started to lift up and then back down. "Touch me babe."

Rick had been looking down as he watched his cock slowly slide inside her. He had always enjoyed watching them make love. He was still watching as he palmed Kate's breasts and rolled her nipples.

"Like what you see?" Kate asked while smiling since she already knew the answer.

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, Kate. Always have been." Rick took his eyes off his cock going in and out of her and up to her breasts before looking in her eyes.

She leaned down to kiss him and search his mouth with her tongue for his taste. "I love you, Castle. I might have been foolish long ago, but not anymore." Her heart was fully invested in him and she didn't fear what would happen to it any longer.

She squeezed his cock. "God, but you're big. We're going to need a lot more practice." She knew that more practice wasn't going to be a problem.

She began to speed up then felt him slip out of her. She reached down and placed him back at her entrance; he slid back inside her. "GOD, YES!" He went back in easier this time.

Kate started grinding on his cock and placed her hands on his hands at her breasts. "I need a ring, Castle." She wanted **his** ring on her finger.

"I'll…search tomorrow." She felt so damn good.

"And a camera and a video recorder. I want to see us making love." Kate slammed down on his cock and climaxed while biting her tongue to keep from crying out.

"You want me, Castle?" she teased in a breathy whisper.

"Always!" Rick answered quickly.

"Prove it," Kate purred into his ear. "Fuck me with your big cock."

She did her best not to squeal as Rick caused both of them to roll out of bed and land on the floor. That wasn't what she had in mind. Then she felt him lift her up so that she was on her hands and knees. Now she was starting to like it. Kate looked back at him just as she felt him start to enter her. "Fuck me baby, make me come again."

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate was naked and lying on top of him in his – or their – bed. "What's going to happen to us?" She traced a finger over his chest. She feared for their future this time. The power was going to go out some day. Even the food in the freezers they were stealing from would go bad. As much food as Disney had all over, not all of it was going to be accessible to them. If they were right they were so badly outnumbered it wasn't even funny.

"Have we ever failed at anything?" he asked. "Don't answer that," he quickly added, knowing that early on they weren't always this close. She chuckled softly.

Kate had something they needed to talk about now that they were together again, finally. "Babe, we're going to need a lot of condoms."

He raised his head to look at her. "You don't want more children?" Had something changed?

"At least three, yes, but I'm only 18 now. I would prefer to wait. Besides now is not a good time to get pregnant." She wasn't going to be able to fight the infecteds if she was 8 months pregnant.

"We'll search for them first thing in the morning." Rick loved her and he was so glad he didn't need to ignore his hormones any longer.

"Good, and in the mean time…" Kate was willing to risk it and reached down to wrap her fingers around his limp cock. "You can fuck me again after you eat my pussy," she purred softly. "I promise to keep silent." She had long since learned she was could be very vocal when they made love.


	23. Chapter 23

**Found - 7**

Kate woke to find the bed empty and just a touch cold. Considering how big a man Castle was, it was a little surprising. Though she was happier this morning than she had been since arriving here.

She started to swing her legs over the side and groaned at the pain that that presented. "We're going to need a lot more practice, Castle." It also told her that her 18-year-old body hadn't had sex in a while.

Kate was up and started to walk. "Maybe today should be a light work day." She was doing better by the time she reached the kitchen where she found Alexis sitting at the table.

"Fruit's in the refrigerator, there's bacon on the stove being kept warm, and the bread's in the freezer. The eggs – scrambled – are also on the stove," Alexis informed her while watching her shuffle over to the coffee maker. It was warm so she poured a cup, added some vanilla creamer, and stirred.

Kate moved over to the table and sat down carefully. She would eat with her second cup of coffee. "A little sore?" Alexis asked then explained her question after Kate made a face. "You're moving like you hurt a little."

"It's nothing, I'll be fine." Kate blew it off since talking about why with Rick's daughter was out of the question.

"The condoms are probably in a bag in the bathroom somewhere. The convenience mart didn't have many choices but we pretty much emptied it," Alexis told her and sipped her coffee which helped her hide her knowing smile.

Kate, however, almost spat out her coffee and began coughing.

"I was married and had two sons, Kate," Alexis said, letting her know why she knew what Kate was going through. "I would have lost money if there had been a bet, though. I would have bet you and Dad would have gotten together a few days ago."

"Alexis." Kate didn't know what to say. Denying it was obviously out of the question.

She gave her some advice. "You might want to consider having sex during the day when Grams and I are outside."

"GOD!" Kate let her forehead hit the table. Her husband's daughter was giving her advice on when to make love to her father.

"Are we going shopping for a dress today?" Alexis went back to sipping her coffee to hide her smile; she was really enjoying this even if she wasn't enjoying the coffee.

Kate quickly came to a decision and sat back up. "I thought we would get married naked this time. I seem to remember a _Star Trek_ episode where not just the bride and groom had to be naked, but all of the people attending had to be naked, too." She'd decided to fight back.

Alexis retaliated. "Just so long as there's lots of sunscreen. Have you created a wedding registry anywhere yet?" She hid her smile behind her coffee again.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you," Kate challenged, glaring at her.

It was enough that Alexis burst into laughter. They were interrupted when they heard a siren going off in the truck bay.

"On the other hand I may stay single this time." Rick was turning himself into more of a child this time around.

"He'll grow out of it." Alexis was willing to give him the time since she knew him so well.

"Where's Bear?" He may have saved them last night.

"I took him out at first light this morning to do his business. He's in the truck bay with Dad at the moment and I haven't seen Grams yet." Alexis knew it was time to stop teasing her.

Martha announced her entrance. "I'm right here!" She kissed Alexis's head and gave Kate's hand a quick squeeze. She got down a coffee cup, poured herself a cup, and added sugar and creamer. After a quick sip she said, "Maybe some different coffee while we're out?" It tasted pretty bitter.

"I've had worse, Martha." Kate could still remember the coffee she was drinking at the precinct before Castle showed up with his fancy coffee maker. "But I agree."

Kate and Alexis watch her pour it down the drain. Then she found a tea bag and helped herself to eggs and a strip of bacon while waiting for her toast and hot water.

Bear made sure everyone knew that Rick was back inside by running into the kitchen to join them. He slid across the tile floor before bounding at Alexis's feet. "HI, BEAR!" Alexis picked him up and was rewarded with puppy kisses. She added to today's list. "And a pet store."

Rick went straight for the paper towels and dropped them in front of his daughter. "He peed in the truck bay."

"That's my cue." Alexis put Bear down and encouraged him to follow her out to the truck bay.

"Be nice, Castle. He did alert us to the infected…man." He'd sounded a little brusque toward her.

"Alexis is a big girl. She brought it home so she can take care of it," Rick grumbled.

"Richard!" Martha didn't like his tone.

He defended himself. "It peed inside. That was why I didn't get her a dog when we lived in the loft. We were in the middle of downtown with the nearest park several blocks away."

Irritated with her son, Martha tartly reminded him that, "You wanted to get her a _pony,_ Richard! Where did you plan on keeping **that**? The roof?"

His shoulders sagged and he caved in. "Fine, I'll give him and Alexis a chance." He reached over and poured a cup of coffee.

"I wouldn't drink that, babe," Kate cautioned. He took a drink, made a face, and poured the rest down the drain. "I warned you."

"It didn't used to be this bad; what happened to that coffee?" Rick rinsed out his cup and put it in the dishwasher.

"We drank it. That's all we have left," she explained. "Unless you want to try that Folgers we got from the convenience mart."

"We're going shopping for coffee today and that stuff can go in the trash out back." They had a big trash bin on the edge of the parking lot.

"I'll get the keys," Martha declared, noticing the looks she was getting. "We're running low on wine." Those two wanted coffee and she wanted wine. She didn't see the difference.

~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~

"So where are we going first?" Alexis asked Kate as they left the fire station. "Back to that place to look for a door?" She petted Bear who was laying quietly on the bench seat between them.

Kate shuddered. "I don't know about you but I'm never going back there again."

"Good." Relieved, Alexis sat back and just watched, though she did pick up today's maps. "Ace Home and Supply Center, 7848 W Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway in Kissimmee." She looked at the picture that came with it. "Nice wall of windows up front, but I don't think so. Not the kind of doors we're looking for." She tossed both of them on the floor and watched as Kate stopped.

"Petco, 3201 Vineland Road in Kissimmee. Turn left and head for Interstate 4 and then go across it on 536." Alexis said then sat back and watched since Kate didn't need her until they got closer.

"You're not mad, are you?" Alexis asked her.

Kate had to think about that question. "About this morning? It was more embarrassing and no, I'm not mad. It's just when I look at you I see the Alexis I remember. Back when I first met you before Castle and I…no, not mad." Kate shut up and endured the sound of Alexis chuckling.

Kate parked right out in front of the building and looked inside. "The lights look like they might still be on."

"Front wall's all glass. Come on, Bear, let's find you some food and toys." Alexis opened her door, carried Bear out, and put him down. She defended letting him come with them. "He's our guard dog. It worked last time. Besides, it's too hot to leave him in the truck."

"Hmm." Kate was willing to admit that he was great last time.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Thirty minutes later Kate and Alexis were strapping down what they had taken onto the bed of the truck. "I saw a Publix and a Walmart sign just down the road if you want to try one of those. It's not on your list but they're close," Alexis suggested and lifted Bear up into the cab.

"The Walmarts I remember were all concrete, not a window to be found. We can try Publix. We can't have too much food." Kate was agreeable.

"Or wine, or coffee." Alexis grimaced, recalling the nasty taste of the morning's coffee.

"Sold!" Kate was in.

Kate had to maneuver around a bunch of cars to park right up front. "I see lights," Alexis said which so far was a good sign.

"We **do not** go in the back and I want you to keep your weapon out and ready like last time." Kate pointed at her to enforce her point.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

They had ended up having to go around to the back to look for boxes first. They needed something to put their finds in. Then they came back around front and began filling the boxes so that they could tie them down in the truck bed.

Alexis picked up the papers and looked for their next place since they still had room.

"That should keep Martha happy." Kate was very pleased.

"And you and Dad," Alexis added since they had picked up a few cases of wine and a lot of different coffees. "Looks like Appliance Direct, Lowe's Home Improvement, and a Best Buy aren't far from here. Exit and turn right." She started trying to put the different maps together.

Kate drove past the front of Lowe's first. "I'm not sure I like this place." She saw very few windows. And Bear barked furiously when they got too close.

Alexis held him in place. "Bear doesn't like it, either."

Appliance Direct was across the street. "Lots of windows and I think I see lights inside." Alexis liked it and looked down at Bear.

"It looks like big appliances from here. Refrigerators, washers that kind of thing. Not what we need." Kate didn't think this was the place for them.

They drove past Best Buy. Alexis shook her head. "It's out, too. Not enough windows."

"What else is on our list?" Kate watched Alexis scramble.

"Just one place, American Security Doors, 2561 Forsyth Road F, Orlando. It's farther out there on the northern end of downtown Orlando, but it's not even lunch yet. Exit and turn right," Alexis instructed.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"Why did you get off?" Alexis asked; they had several more miles to go even if at their speed it was going to take a lot of time.

Kate checked the gas gauge. "Gas, this thing is not fuel efficient and I don't like running out. There's no more AAA, remember."

"Good point. I wonder how Dad and Grams are doing?" Alexis knew that her dad only had one place on his list.

"Castle and Martha have just one task: find all of us some real clothes. I, for one, am tired of looking like Mickey Mouse and I want a real bra and panties. Oh and SHOES, real shoes, not these boots from the 1870s." She stomped the floor with her booted foot.

"I sent Martha with him because while I trust your father's taste in clothing when it comes to evening gowns, I don't trust him with the simple stuff. While your grandmother may have questionable taste in colors, she has good taste in clothing not meant for fancy dinner events."

"And knowing Dad, he'll fill the truck bed with everything he can find, allowing us to pick and choose." Alexis understood now. She pointed to a shop on the left. "Shoe repair."

"Maybe, if there is time. It's after lunch already. We need to make this fast, we're kind of far out here." Kate wasn't a fan of going this far but they needed these doors.

"It should be just up on our left," Alexis said and then pointed when she spotted it.

"Now this is what I'm talking about." They could see an outdoor yard behind a chain-link fence that was filled with ready-made doors. "Grab a tape measure and bring the list." Kate had cursed because not all the doors were the same size.

"White or black or do you care?" Because Alexis didn't.

"Nice and heavy and it can be puce for all I care," Kate answered and began taking measurements.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate was happy, Alexis was happy, and Bear wasn't barking. They had their doors strapped down to the back of their flat bed truck.

"Shoes?" Alexis asked as they start to pass it by.

"We don't have time. You saw the Interstate same as I did. It's going to be close again. Castle is going to be so mad." They weren't even on the Interstate and Kate was sure they were in trouble…again. "We really need to stop being greedy." She shook her head.

"At least we stopped for gas," Alexis commented since that looked like it had been a good thing.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"Talk to me about your practice. How are you doing with whatever that thing is?" Kate hadn't believed that she'd taken it from the armory when they picked up a lot more weapons. They actually had weapons and ammunition stored all over the place.

"It's a .50 caliber sniper rifle. Like it sounds, it fires a .50 caliber bullet. The changes are the round itself as well as how the round is fired. Each round can actually be programmed to hit the target selected, making it easier to hit what you want.

"Plus the thick barrel that you've probably noticed is full of energy coils. It doesn't use gun powder to launch the round and the coils accelerate the round to an almost insane speed. The sound you hear is actually each round breaking the sound barrier.

"It actually has very little kick to it. It's made, **was** made, by RAD TECH in the late 1990s. I was actually surprised that the local National Guard even had one. I read where only active duty had them. You should try it, I think you'll like it. You should see the holes it makes." Alexis started smiling widely. It hadn't just made holes in those cargo containers. It had gone through them including what was inside them.

Kate glanced at her. "You read?"

"Yep, I was trying to find out what was different between when I died and now. And you wanted weapons so I did some research. I guess they don't give the National Guard the good stuff." What they had found were weapons even Kate knew about.

"It's okay, at least I know how to use what we have. I'm too old to learn how to shoot again," Kate smiled while not looking at Alexis. Except Alexis was silent. Kate was all set to try again. "OOO! FUNNY!" Alexis started laughing which got Kate to laugh with her.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate looked at her watch. "Made it with an hour and a half to spare." She raised her hand and Alexis gave her a high five.

"You know they don't do that in the early 1990s. Or so my sons told me," Alexis said. Then her face crumpled and tears began to fall. "My sons." Her voice cracked. Suddenly never seeing them again hit her. Saying it was one thing but finally realizing was another.

"Oh, sweetheart." Kate hugged her. She understood her pain even if never seeing her own children ever again hadn't yet hit her like it had Alexis.

"You're back! I thought I heard your truck." Martha came up to the passenger door only to see Alexis being hugged by Kate. Alexis was teary-eyed and they both looked sad. "What's wrong?" She saw Bear doing his best to help both of them feel better.

"Realizing she was never going to see her family again finally hit Alexis…hard," Kate explained.

"Oh, my darling girl!" Martha opened the door and joined the hug.

"Thanks, Grams," Alexis smiled somewhat soggily. "We come bearing gifts." She brightened up a bit, knowing what they'd come home with.

"I saw the doors." Martha thought that was nice work.

"Yes, but not that. This is so much better." Alexis picked up a plastic bag from the floor and handed it to her.

Martha didn't understand what could be so special until she opened it, and then promptly closed it. "I'd forgotten I even needed these, it's been so long." She opened it again to look. "Just in time, too."

"We almost emptied the shelves. We have box after box." Alexis turned to look at what they had strapped down to the bed. "It should last the three of us for months." She'd been happy, too.

They had tried before, but it was just that everyplace didn't have any windows or for whatever reason the lights were off. But not this time!

"Help us unload?" Kate smiled hopefully. She couldn't wait because she was sure her time was coming up fast.

Rick showed up as Martha, Alexis, and Kate dropped a box on the kitchen table before moving it somewhere else since they had several more. "I thought you were going to look for doors. What's this?" He opened the box, looked inside, and closed it just as fast.

"Definitely not for you, Dad." Alexis reached in and took out a blue package labeled _Always_. She went to her room before heading to one of the bathrooms of which there were three, each with its own shower.

Alexis found everyone in the day room where Rick was handing out bags of his own. She questioned what was going on. "What's this?"

"These two are yours with the measurements you gave me," Rick said. Alexis smiled as she grabbed both bags, looking inside. She'd been happy with the pads and tampons, now she was overjoyed to have bras and panties.

"Thanks, Dad." Alexis gave him a quick kiss and ran to her room again.

"Are you two happy, too?" he inquired, looking at Kate and his mother.

"You did well, Richard." Martha was happy and headed to her room.

"You're a good man, Castle." Kate stepped close to kiss him again.

"I've got something else for you. Mother and I made another stop not on the list." Technically it was on his list. He fished it out and got down on one knee which had Kate breathing in sharply. She had been through this before.

"Katherine Beckett-Kravitz-Castle, if you would do me the honor of being my wife…again." Rick opened his little box to show her what he'd found for her this time.


	24. Chapter 24

**Found - 8**

Kate found Alexis in front of her 7 screens again. "Find anything new?" Kate didn't know how long she had been at it this morning.

"I just got here. Where are we going today? I haven't found a tanker truck yet." Finding one of those was going to take more luck than persistence, she feared.

"Castle needs more nuts and bolts to put our window covers together. Since Lowe's and Home Depot are basically concrete boxes with no windows, we have have to try that Ace Hardware place that we rejected for the doors."

"We can do that I…" Alexis stopped talking and took Kate's left hand. "When?"

"He proposed last night," Kate beamed, letting Alexis examine her ring. She felt much happier now that she knew for sure.

"What are the gems? Sapphires?" Alexis inquired and kept looking at it.

"Topaz, my birthstone. I didn't even know Castle knew that." Kate took her hand back and looked at her ring again, still smiling. "We can take the little truck this time, no need for the flat bed for this trip. We might even be home in time for lunch." They didn't have to starve today. "Come find me when you're ready. I'll be drinking some of that new coffee." Kate gave her a little wave and retreated to the kitchen.

Alexis was writing down the address again and printing another map on how to get there when she looked at her hand. "Where's my ring? I got to keep the clothes I was wearing at the time. YOU COULDN'T LET ME KEEP MY RING?" she screamed at the ceiling, though she was really yelling into the Void, or trying to. "No husband and no family. **YOU COULD HAVE AT LEAST LET ME KEEP MY RING!** " She threw her pen across the room and started to cry again. She used to have a family and now she had almost no one.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate didn't say a word all the way out to the ACE Hardware store and let her stay in the truck. Granted she didn't really need her just to get a few nuts and bolts. Okay, more than a few, but still. She also didn't say a word all the way home and watched Alexis walk silently into the station with Bear jumping all over her. Kate really didn't know what to tell her. Lily had been nothing like Alexis. Alexis was quiet; her daughter had been anything but.

By the time Kate made it inside she saw Alexis with her monster sniper rifle walk past her to go shoot cargo containers again. "Alexis." Kate spoke her name softly and didn't expect her to stop and she didn't. "I'm sorry, Alexis." She'd heard her screaming after she had left and hadn't known what to say then, either. She debated whether to tell Rick and what to tell him.

"Hi, Castle." Kate found him in the truck bay drilling holes with Bear over one bay pooping next to the ambulance.

"Nuts and bolts! Nice!" Rick was pleased; they could finally finish. "What?" The look on Kate's face told him there was trouble. "They're not the right size?" He had already drilled the holes.

"Alexis needs you."

"Needs me for what?" The look on her face, actually the entire way she was presenting herself suggested that whatever it was was bad, really bad.

"She needs her father. Her loving father who has all the answers. She's out front shooting her rifle. You need to go, Rick." Kate took the bag of nuts and bolts back from him. She could do this part. They actually did have some welding equipment and all of them learned that they couldn't do it right. So nuts and bolts it was.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate gave them about 15 minutes and then went to look. She saw Alexis in her father's arms crying heavily. She wasn't sure if she should intrude, but she had been a mother and being with Castle meant Alexis came with the package.

She walked out to join them and saw Rick looking up at her. His face showed the pain that they both were going through. Kate sat down so that she was close enough that she could hug Alexis almost as much as Rick was doing. Alexis looked at her with tear-filled eyes and Kate began to shed her own tears. Now it was her turn to hold Alexis just as the redhead's crying started to calm down. Rick released her and started rubbing his hand over Alexis's back.

"Sorry." Alexis started wiping her tears away.

"Don't be sorry, sweetheart. You loved them, they were your family. …I know you don't want to hear it but you're young and you'll find someone else. Create yet another family and love them just as much." Kate kissed her head.

"She's right, pumpkin. We picked this door and this is our new life. I don't know why it has to be this way but I choose to believe that we were chosen to come here. Our knowledge of the Void is what got us here. You said Mother was waiting for you in the Void. There has to be a reason. We're only just starting, don't give up now. …Some of the Disney rides are in full sunlight, we can ride those." Rick tried to find a bright spot. They were after all sitting right next to it.

Alexis smiled; her dad always did try to find what was fun in life. But she knew they couldn't do it. "It's too dangerous, Dad. That place has to have infecteds all over the place." Too many rides were in the dark, inside buildings. Several were designed that way.

"We can still tour it and never leave the sunlight." Rick wasn't giving up that easily.

"Trust me, I don't say this often, but your dad has a point. Don't let it go to your head, Castle." Kate would like to see if Disney really was full of infecteds. They now knew not everyone was infected. There had to be others somewhere.

Alexis wiped her tears and sniffed. "Too late," she teased her dad.

"OH THE PAIN! My own daughter!" Rick faked being stabbed and listened to two of the most important women in his life chuckle at him which was what he intended so it felt good.

"What do you think: we either get out of the sunlight and not get burnt or we slather a layer of sunscreen on us." Kate began to get up, taking Alexis with her. "Castle can bring in your toy for you," she said, volunteering him to pick up Alexis's sniper rifle.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

A little later Kate saw Martha hugging Alexis as they both sat down. "How is she, really?" Kate didn't know Alexis all that well.

"Hurting, but she has us. I have to admit that I'm surprised to find all of us here at these ages. I always thought people would go through the doors, forget all about their old lives, and be born a baby to do it all over again. Start a new life." That was how Rick saw it happening.

"Different doors, different outcome. There were a lot of doors." She could still picture a solid wall of doors that seemed to never have an end to it. Until suddenly there was just one door left.

"And yet…" There was something bugging him.

"What, babe?" Kate wanted to hear what he was thinking.

"All those doors, right? Yet somehow we managed to all walk through the same door and end up in the same place. Alexis talked about being able to get Lil's husband to go through the same door as Lily did. Then Alexis literally taped me to a door and an instant later there you and she were. I don't see how that's possible without influence of some kind. I mean what are the odds?" Rick began shaking his head. It wasn't adding up.

"God, maybe?"

Rick shook his head. "Never saw him. The only person I ever saw was the guy who offered me the job. He didn't look like God to me."

She was curious. "Why did you take the job?"

"Escorting people who had died across a nothingness Void to a wall of doors so they could start a new life. Who wouldn't want that job? Think of all the people you could see. Kings, queens, famous actors, maybe people from history." He had thought of it as the chance of a lifetime.

"Did you? See any of those people?" Had it been worth it? Even if it had gotten both of them to this point.

"Nope. I saw a lot of people of all ages, though. The ones that hurt the most were the babies. I hadn't really thought the job through until I got my first baby. I carried it across the Void, asked it to chose a door, and used its tiny hand to open it. Then I placed it inside and closed the door." Rick still had a few tears left for that day. Kate hugged him.

"I got to escort Jerry Tyson across the Void. I even learned how he had died." That had him smiling again.

She looked up at him. "3XK, seriously?"

"He had managed to take you hostage and we went hunting for Tyson so we could find you. I'm not exactly sure but I think Javi killed him." Rick had liked that day.

"Good! But…Tyson never took me hostage." Kate would have remembered that.

"That was one of the things I learned about being in the Void. Time meant nothing there, literally nothing. I think he captured you in the future and yet you were shot and killed so you didn't see that future. Trust me, the Void is a strange place." He still wasn't sure just how strange.

"Filled with nothing." Kate could remember that day as well. Rick embraced her and kissed her head.

"Even I couldn't see an end to it. You have no idea how lucky or happy I felt when you suddenly showed up out of it." Rick hugged her tighter and saw Martha coming their way.

"She's a strong girl. It's going to take time but she'll be fine. It's not easy to lose a life and still remember all of it and know you can never have it back again." Martha patted her son and headed for the kitchen. It was time for a glass of wine to help kill the pain.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Rick planted the barrier in the ground, Kate poured in part of a bag of concrete and Alexis started blasting it with water from a hose. Followed by the next hole. They did this several times over.

"All done!" Kate looked at the last window and down the wall at the next one. It was just that she still felt vulnerable. "The doors are next but I don't feel safe."

Rick felt safer. "It'll take a lot to get through this after the concrete dries."

"And you've worked in the precinct with me. Did you see anyone from there that could get through this?" Kate waved at their barrier.

Rick thought about it then made a face. "So you're telling us we did all this work for nothing." Alexis aimed her hose at those two.

"People escape from prisons. If you want out of a place or into a place that badly, you'll find a way. What we need is an escape plan for when things go wrong." Kate was trying to think of a way out.

Alexis lowered her hose for the moment. "In the movies the bad guys always have a car stowed somewhere, allowing them to dump the one they're using that the police are looking for."

"Brilliant!" Kate loved it. "We'll get cars, fill each of them with emergency supplies. Place them where we can reach them. But like your movie we need a way to reach any of them in a hurry." She was beginning to formulate a plan.

"Great, I'll be sitting in front of my screens for hours again," Alexis moaned. "Can our next place have a pool?" Alexis brightened and began spraying the two of them with water. Kate squealed and ran and much to her amusement, her dad was also squealing like a girl.

The only problem was they both ran too far away and Alexis's hose couldn't reach them. "I'm going to get it for this." Alexis was still smiling, though.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Alexis came rushing out of her computer room and found her dad and Kate at the front door working on installing one of the storm doors. "I FOUND SOMETHING!" Alexis held out her sheet of paper that Kate took.

"FEMA office?" Kate looked at Alexis questioningly.

"Say it took a little longer than we're thinking–" Kate interrupted her.

"FEMA would start to respond as would the Red Cross." Kate liked this bit of news.

"The Red Cross might show up with a trailer of washers and dryers, depending on what they were up against. To make them work they would have tankers full of water," Alexis said.

"And tankers full of fuel." Kate liked it a lot now. "How far out is this place?"

"That's the bad part. It's located on the far northern end of Orlando and given the state of Interstate 4, that could be a problem."

Rick had an idea about that. "If we can find one of those big rig tow trucks we can either push or tow the cars out of the way."

Kate thought about it. "That might work. How far out again?"

"You know where we were to get these doors? It's farther than that." That was the really bad news.

"Is that bad?" Rick didn't know since he wasn't the one that got the doors.

"Yeah, it is. Remember when you were mad because we got back late? Well we're going to get back late. Just how late depends on how many cars and trucks are in our way. We're going to need a lot of ammunition." Kate was thinking they were going to have to fight their way home.

"So what's first?" Alexis asked.

"These doors. While you're busy looking for at least one big tow truck, look for another. Two might be better. How far does our communication equipment work again?" If it was far enough they at least wouldn't be totally alone.

"About two miles at best, less if we're in an enclosed space," Alexis answered.

"We need a plan, but first find us that tow truck," Kate told Alexis. Alexis smiled and returned to her computer room.

"What are you thinking?" Rick asked.

Kate shook her head. "I don't know yet but we can talk about it during dinner. First we need to get these doors up and secure this place. But I'd like this place a lot more if we had that water and fuel truck. The power's going to go out one of these days." She didn't like anyplace that didn't have power or fresh water. Not on this world.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate was relaxed while lying next to Castle. They had found a way to bind two of the twin beds together to make one big bed. "You're thinking rather loudly." Rick caressed her arm.

"I don't even get a penny?" Kate teased. "I was just thinking." She was peaceful so her thinking wasn't about bad things this time.

He was willing to listen. "Care to share with the class?"

"With the class, no. With you…" Kate tried to think about it and how to explain. "If we're right, I'm either 18 or 19 years old," she began.

"Right." Rick didn't see the point.

"I lost my virginity on my 18th birthday. It was a disaster. The condom broke and I was scared for weeks. All he really did was fuck me…and it hurt. I didn't get anything out of it except for losing my mind, waiting to find out if I was pregnant."

Rick hugged her and kissed her head. "I'm sorry it was that bad. You deserved so much better." He was never going to do that to her, not ever.

"I know, you're an excellent lover, husband, and father." She sighed heavily.

"I hear a _but_ _,_ _"_ Rick commented and waited for an answer.

"If that door had taken us back just a few more months, I could have lost my virginity to you. Instead I lost it to jackass Brent." Just a few more months and she could have given Rick what he deserved.

"I thought I was a jackass!" Rick made a joke out of it and it had Kate chuckling softly.

"You're my jackass…and I love you." Kate kissed his chest.

"And if I had met you when you were 18?" Rick questioned.

"Would I have had sex with you? Maybe, but back then I would never have talked to you again. I would have blown you off. We would never have been what we are now. Never be us," she admitted.

He thought he understood. "Rebel Becks."

"It was a time in my life I'm not proud of. I'm not sure how my parents put up with me. They should have had me committed and locked away."

"Like you put up with Lil?" Rick kissed her head again. She quietly laughed.

"Mom would have had a field day with me. I was getting what I had given her." Kate was sure of that.

"And yet you still loved her and miss her," Rick added as he started to remember the children that they had had together.

"I miss all of them. I thought sure Levi wasn't coming back when he came back so late after that bootleg run. I was all set to rip him a new one until I saw him limping. Then my heart broke all over again." Kate never knew her heart was capable of so much. Rick had taught her a lot over the years.

"Ahh, the blockade running years." He began smiling. "We and the kids made a lot of money on those trips." They had gotten rich since the ship they had was larger than all the others.

"Lily got lucky, Nathanial put up with her and loved her. She had way too much of my 20th century thinking in a time where women were little more than slaves." She still couldn't believe how she'd gotten that lucky.

"The boys didn't do so bad, either. They took your teachings and brought their wives into the 20th century." Rick had watched his daughters-in-law transform over time.

"Thank God I don't have to put up with all those clothes this time. I was baking under all of that. And don't get me started on those corsets." Kate was happy to lose all of that.

"I'll look for a new one for you," Rick teased, earning him a swat to the chest.

"Only if you want to be divorced," Kate warned.

"I'll be happy to take it off you faster than it took you to put it on," Rick responded.

"I could live with that." Kate was in if she only had to wear it for a few minutes. The reward she would earn would certainly make up for wearing the damn thing.


	25. Chapter 25

**Found - 9**

"What are we doing again?" Rick wanted to go over the plan one more time. Yes, they had discussed it and everything was ready.

Kate huffed out an annoyed breath and glared at him but explained it again. "Alexis is navigator and I'm driving. You and Martha are going to follow in the truck in case we get stuck and can't get back out. I don't want to almost get there and not be able to get back before nightfall."

"And we're not actually going there to get anything?" Rick had a problem with that.

"No, we're going to use the tow truck to clear a path all the way there and back again. Then during the next trip we'll know the path is unobstructed and the semis, if there are any there, will have a clear path all the way home.

"If we're lucky you'll drive one and I'll drive one while Alexis and Martha follow us home in the truck. Then we'll have 300 gallons of fresh water and maybe 300 gallons of diesel. If there's more than one we can do it all over again." Kate looked at him.

"Got it!" He just wanted to make sure that Kate was going to let him drive a semi, which was all he wanted to do.

They hadn't gotten all that far when Rick saw what Kate meant by creating space for them and the semis on the way back. He watched her crash into a car and send it almost flying into another car.

"Katherine means business," Martha declared.

They'd made it a little farther. Rick saw Kate slow down and then suddenly more than one car and truck was being pushed to one side. Next he saw a lot of black smoke come out as Kate put her foot down on the accelerator. He found out a moment later why, as yet another car was sent flying.

Alexis watched that car almost literally fly after Kate had slammed into it. "You having fun?" Alexis looked at Kate who was smiling broadly yet had all of her concentration on the road. "I'll take that as a yes." Alexis went back to watching.

So far it was pretty much a wash. It was either one car or truck that Kate would smash to one side based on how it was sitting, or she would slow down to push a number of them out of the way. It was during these times that Kate paid more attention to what she was doing. She didn't want one of them to give her a flat and lose their tow truck; she'd have to drive home and look for another one.

Bear mostly just laid there until Kate smashed into one of the cars, then he was up in Alexis's lap to see what was happening only to lay down again. He was happy right where he was. These people fed him, made sure he had water, and he really did like Alexis, a lot.

"Water?" Alexis leaned down a picked up a bottle of water and handed it to Kate during what looked like a long break between cars.

"Thanks." Kate worked at opening it with one hand and started chugging then put the cap back on and handed it back.

Alexis had the map out. "Next exit then turn right." Alexis watched as they went down the ramp. "Or not." She saw a mess at the bottom. Kate stopped to think about it.

Rick's voice came over their comms. "What's wrong?"

"The exit is a little blocked. I'm trying to think of what to do about it," Kate answered.

Alexis added, "It really is a mess, Dad."

The next they knew Rick was walking past them to look it over and then went down to it all. Kate and Alexis watched him walk around before coming back.

He stepped up onto the running board on Kate's side, waiting for her to lower the window since they had the A/C on much like what he had on in the truck. He shook his head and gave them the bad news. "Maybe if we have dynamite. There are even some first responder units down there. Police cars, ambulance, and a fire truck," he commented.

Alexis picked up her map again. "The next exit is 2 miles down. If it's clear we can take it and come back on this side street." She indicated at the road that FEMA was on.

"Back up and give us room, Castle. Maybe a lot of room." Kate looked down at the gear shift and feared ever having to put this thing into reverse.

Rick backed up and saw a lot of black smoke belch out out of the tow truck, yet it didn't move. What Alexis and Kate heard were gears being ground and the engine being revved, but not going anywhere.

A little more grinding of gears and some more black smoke, and Kate was finally backing up. "Let's try to avoid that again and don't tell your father." She knew Rick would drill her for this.

Alexis zipped her mouth closed and watched Kate drive.

Surprisingly, the side streets were in better shape than the Interstate and they had no trouble reaching the building. "Well I'll be…" Kate looked around as she applied the brake. Alexis was grinning.

There was semi after semi, all neatly lined up next to each other in what was clearly a staging area. Alexis pointed and smiled widely.

"Tide." Kate turned to look and saw it, too. It was a semi trailer that had Tide written all over it.

"Let's get busy. We want the ones that look like tankers. Babe, you take Martha and start on that end. I'll take Alexis…and Bear and start over there. We need the manifest sheets and keys. I doubt we can hot wire one of these." Kate waited until Rick and Martha had begun walking before she moved.

Kate watched Bear running around all over, happy to be out of the truck. "At least he's not barking. I'll take this one, you take the next one." Kate gestured to the next one for Alexis to take.

"Manifest, manifest." Kate started looking and found it on the floor on the passenger side. "DIESEL, YES!" She struck gold on the very first one. "13,000 gallons. I wonder how long that will last us?" She had no idea how much their generator was going to use each day. "Keys, keys." She had one of two. It was a small cab that didn't have a sleeper so it didn't take long to search it.

It took over an hour and they met in the middle. "What have we got?" Kate had come up empty. She had found diesel fuel but no keys. Kate watched as Martha held up a pair of keys as did Alexis.

"Great! Which trucks and what do they have?" Kate was fearing that they would have to go into the FEMA building in search of keys and while Bear wasn't barking, she still didn't like it.

"Mine's the nice shiny white one next to the Tide. The papers said 30,000 gallons of water," Martha smiled proudly.

Alexis grinned. "Mine's that dark burgundy one over there, 13,000 gallons of diesel."

"I'll trade you keys." Kate held out the keys to the tow truck to Alexis and took the keys to the burgundy semi. "Castle, take Martha's keys. We're going to move these two over to the Interstate ramp we used to get here and park them. Then we'll go home and come back tomorrow."

"Why not drive them home now?" Rick didn't see the need for all the jockeying around.

Kate sighed since she just knew Rick would argue with her. "Several reasons. Has anyone checked the tires, will they even start, and if they do start, how much fuel do they have? Do we have to find a way to fill their tanks so we can get them home?

"It's already past noon and what if one of us breaks down? Is it the one in front blocking all of us? Including the truck that will be trailing us in case something goes wrong? We don't have time."

Rick looked at Kate, looked at the truck Martha had found, and then turned to look at the Interstate. "Logistics are a bitch," he conceded. "How do we check tire pressure?" He didn't have anything on him for that.

"In the movies they hit them with bars. If one of them sounds different then it's flat," Alexis said.

Moments later Rick was walking down one side hitting tires with a metal bar while Martha was walking down the other doing the same.

They all ended up in front of their respective trucks. "Fire it up, Castle, and follow me to the ramp," Kate yelled. "Alexis, walk back to the trucks with Martha and follow us. You drive the tow truck while Martha drives the truck. If Castle has too much trouble with his then we need a new plan."

Alexis started walking while Kate climbed into her truck. "Just think what Derek Storm would do, Dad. More hands-on research."

"Research." Rick could get behind that. "With our futures on the line." He climbed up into his truck and watched Martha going to the truck with the keys he'd handed over.

"Big truck, wide turns," he muttered to himself, inserting the key. "Think Ferrari, just a whole lot bigger and slower." It had been a while.

Rick had it started and pressed on the accelerator, revving the engine and watching as black smoke went rolling away. He heard Kate on his headset. "Fuel, Castle, how much fuel?"

He scanned the gauges. "FULL!" They were in business.

"Then follow me. Alexis and Martha will be right behind you," Kate said and moments later he saw Kate drive right past him.

"Gears, lots of gears." He put it in first and started moving, only to find that he couldn't even turn the wheel before he had to change gears. Then he had to remember to make wide turns or end up hitting the truck parked next to him.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Rick was following Kate and Alexis in the tow truck with Martha next to him. "That went well, kiddo." Martha was happy.

"Yeah, not sure I want to do it for a living though." Still tomorrow they would have fuel and water for when the power went out.

Rick watched as Kate would occasionally brush up against a car or truck pushing it out of the way a little farther, creating a more open space to drive. "This might turn out to be easy." He was betting that once they got rolling he wouldn't have to change gears that often.

"I don't think you'll be going this fast, Richard. That will be a lot of weight behind you," Martha warned but Rick wasn't listening. This was going to be a snap.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Alexis was up and it was the middle of the night. "If you need to pee or poop you're going to have to do it in the truck bay." Going outside was out of the question as she looked down at Bear who was turning his head from side to side. "And what is that noise?"

"It's interrupting my beauty sleep," Martha complained and followed Alexis.

They ran across Kate and Rick at the entrance to the sleeping area. Kate and Rick each had a weapon. "My gun." Alexis kicked herself and ran to her room to retrieve it. It was dark outside after all.

"You too, Martha, just in case," Kate said.

They had guns and ammunition all over the building just in case, but it was best to have one in hand, especially at night.

"Doesn't sound like knocking or pounding. Sounds more like a big fan's running," Rick commented as they followed Kate who appeared to be clearing rooms while they walked toward the noise.

They ended up out in the truck bay where Bear took off to do his business while they all went to a man door at the back and looked outside. "It's dark," Kate said which she knew was stupid since it was the middle of the night.

"Too dark, actually. The lights in the parking lot aren't on and that noise is louder here." Rick was concerned but cautious.

"Be ready." Kate cracked the door open just a little. The noise got instantly louder.

"I think that's our generator running," Alexis announced.

"The power is out?" Kate asked. They all knew it was coming, but tonight? "If Disney's dark then all of the power is out." Kate closed the door and made sure it was locked. She went back inside and headed for a window that would look that direction.

"The power's out." Kate hung her head. Disney, which was just down the road, was dark for the first time since they'd got there.

"And I didn't get to ride any of the rides," Rick lamented. He was living right next door and they'd never been back inside after getting what they'd wanted.

"Sorry, babe. It was too dangerous anyway. Now we really need those trucks tomorrow or we need a new plan," Kate remarked. Those two trucks were now a necessity.

"We need to fill our refrigerators and freezers soon, too. Before all the food spoils," Alexis added. "Maybe even add a freezer or two if we can. We can plug them in out here in the bay. What about that appliance store we passed up one time? It had a wall of windows out front."

"Fuel and water tomorrow, food the next day, and appliances the day after that, followed by more food," Kate agreed.

"Followed by that small appliance store again. Only instead of a coffee maker, we want bread makers and anything else that will help us," Alexis added.

"Well since the fun's over I'm going back to bed." Martha padded off to her room.

The others stood there, looking out at darkness. "We're going to be the only noise in the area, unless Disney has any emergency generators that've automatically kicked on," Kate added. She saw blank faces looking back at her. "The infecteds may come to investigate at night now."

"SHIT! Pardon my French," Alexis added quickly.

Kate put an arm around her. "We may have to talk about going back to keeping a watch at night. Yes, I know this place is secure, but how secure, and how many infecteds are going to come look?" Their lives just got a lot more complicated.

"I'm beginning to not like this life. We should have picked a different door." Alexis escaped from Kate's arm, making her way to her room. "Come on, Bear, the fun's over. We should think about getting adult dog food soon, too." Bear was growing like a weed.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate was out front with Rick a little ways behind her and behind him were Alexis and Martha in the truck. So far everything was going smoothly. Though all of them were a little grumpy. Martha had been the first to notice. "NO WATER!" That had all of them trying a faucet somewhere to check.

" _The power is out_ _which means_ _the pumps aren't working_ _,_ _so no water_ _,_ _" Alexis_ _had complained_ _._

" _No more hot showers?" Martha was ready to shoot someone or something._

 _Unexpectedly, Rick was the one being_ _sensible_ _. "Kate and I did without a shower for years_ _, M_ _other. You'll live."_

" _You're n_ _ot helping_ _,_ _Richard_ _,_ _" Martha had scowled back at him._

" _No hot water_ _,_ _either_ _,_ _" Kate had added and walked away feeling Martha's daggers in her back._

"Everyone okay back there?" Kate called out.

"Good so far. A little slow maybe," Rick responded. He looked at his speedometer that said he was just a touch under 30.

"All good back here," Alexis answered.

"You have food and water, Castle. Yell if anyone needs a pee break. That includes you, Bear." Kate smiled as she watched the empty road that they'd created for this yesterday.

"Petco is right over there. Permission to get Bear some adult dog food. We'll be quick," Alexis suddenly called out just as they began to pass it on the left.

Alexis was ready to ask again in case no one heard her. "Make it fast. Rick and I will wait here." Kate stopped her truck not really wanting to stop but they were going right past it. Plus they'd made it the other side of downtown Orlando so they were well past the halfway point.

"And you know the rules. Wall of windows or you don't go in and you go in with your weapons out and make it fast." With the power out that meant no lights and Kate didn't like where the sun was setting. The front of the strip mall looked to be facing east, not west.

"Thanks! Come on, Bear, let's get you some food." Alexis turned around and went down the ramp. She made her way to the very front of the store that was all windows. There was light inside thanks to the sun but it wasn't direct sunlight.

"Grams?" Alexis questioned as they all reached the front door. Martha still didn't like it but she pulled out her weapon and took the safety off like Kate had taught her.

"Let's go, Bear." Alexis opened the door and looked inside. According to the signs, dog food was a little toward the back and on the right side with cat food on the other side.

Alexis looked and pointed down each row while looking to see if Bear was barking. "Natural Balance." Alexis put her weapon away and lifted up a big bag. "Grab one, Grams." Alexis waited and together they went back outside.

They had done this three times now. "How's it going down there, we need to get moving." Kate called out.

"We're fine, Bear isn't barking and with this trip, we've got 8 big bags. This will be our last one," Alexis replied. However, the second both of them dropped the next bag in the back of the truck, Bear started barking.

"What, Bear?" She looked where he was looking and barking, but didn't see anything. "Get in, Grams, we're leaving." Alexis picked up Bear and shoved him inside, started up the truck, and headed back for the Interstate.

"Alexis!" Martha pointed at something she thought she saw.

It was a Dollar Tree store that had all windows on the front wall, but they could both make out that someone was just in the darker reaches. "Infecteds," Alexis said grimly.

Rick's voice came screaming out in their ears. "WHAT!"

"Where, Alexis, how many, and get moving." Kate was ready to jump out and start running.

"We're just leaving the parking lot. There was only one and it was in the Dollar Tree store, kind of next door. Bear spotted it first." Alexis took a moment to pet him.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Alexis parked out front and went inside with Martha. She went through the station then out back where Rick and Kate were going to park. Kate had the diesel so she stopped right next to the generator while Rick parked next to her.

Alexis found herself being crushed by her dad. "We're fine, Dad. It was just one and we were already leaving." She didn't see the big deal.

"You're never doing that again," Rick said fiercely and hugged her tight again.

Alexis blew him off. "Until I'm 30, yeah, yeah."

Kate had a more pressing priority at the moment. "Let's see what it takes to get diesel out of our truck and into our generator while we still have light." She would hug and chastise Alexis later.

"It's noisy," Alexis commented as she stepped up to what looked like a display panel and began pressing buttons. "It tells us how much power it's generating, I think. It also tells us how much fuel is in the tank. It looks like we're still over 90% full."

"Mother, go inside and turn off everything we don't need. Be sure and unplug everything we don't use, including the TV." Rick saw the looks Kate and Martha were giving him.

He rolled his eyes. "Okay, listen up. When you use the remote to turn on the TV, that means it's always on, just waiting for a signal. It's called _Vampire Power._ You're using power even if it isn't on.

"And check to see if the refrigerators are still working." If they weren't connected to the generator, they were doomed.

"Now how do we get fuel into it even if it doesn't need any yet?" Kate looked at the tanker and all she saw were tubes on this side. She was betting they held hoses to fill the underground tanks.

Alexis left her display and began opening panels. There was what looked like a door to the right, a small door under the panel, and a pair of really larger doors further to the right.

She started with the door and looked inside and then closed it. She thought about opening one of the really big doors but knelt down to open the little one at the bottom instead. "It's a hose connection." Alexis turned to them and smiled. It was a big one, too, about the size of the tubes on the side of the tanker.


	26. Chapter 26

**Found - 10**

Morning turned out to be a whole new experience when you didn't have running water.

"Okay so we can't take showers or at least hot showers. But Castle, what do we do about the toilets?" After they had flushed them, the tank didn't refill with water for the next flush. "We'll create diseases and I don't think Alexis gave us shots for those."

Rick put his fork down; he was having pancakes for breakfast. "We can put a bucket of water in each bathroom. After you flush you dump the water in the tank and then go fill the bucket for the next time. That or a truck full of porta-potties is next on our list. We could put them in the truck bay." For when they had to go when it was dark outside.

"New list," Kate announced. "Rick and I go get a freezer while Alexis and Martha go looking for porta-potties."

Martha wrinkled her nose. "Porta-potties?"

"No running water means no running toilets. No toilets means diarrhea, eye problems, Hepatitis A, worm diseases amongst other problems," Kate told all of them.

"Porta-potties," Martha stated with more conviction since the consequences of doing without were a lot worse.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate and Rick were looking at a chest freezer that was sitting near the front door and since Alexis had Bear, they were being careful. "How do we move it? It's big and looks heavy." She thought this place had something that would help but she was betting it was in back, where it was dark.

Rick held up a finger and ran to their flatbed truck; he came back showing her some straps. "Trust me, it'll work." He started showing her where to place the straps and how to hold them.

"This is amazing, Castle!" Kate couldn't believe they could lift anything so heavy with just straps as she shuffled her feet while Rick walked backwards out the door.

"You remember that tool chest that weighed a ton, even with all the drawers out? Well there had to be a better way so I did some research and found these on one of our trips. I thought they might come in handy." Rick was all smiles.

"Do you want to go back in and get that other freezer chest that was next to this one?" he asked.

They were soon strapping down two freezer chests. "Home or food?" he inquired since it wasn't even lunch time yet.

"Convenience store," Kate countered and pointed. "We just need to find boxes to put it all in." It had an entire wall of glass and the sun was shining into it.

Moments later Rick was carrying a full box out of the store and dropping it onto the bed of the truck. He picked up a folded piece of cardboard, turned it into a box, and went back inside to find Kate coming out.

She had them stop at four boxes because she didn't see anything that was left that they wanted. "Let's go home, Castle, we're done for today. Alexis and I can hit that Publix again while you and Martha go to that small appliance store tomorrow."

It was over an hour later and Rick pulled up in the only empty spot left out front in front of the roll up doors.

"Looks like Alexis and Martha found what they needed." Their truck was in the driveway and another truck that had four porta-potties strapped down was next to it. "Let's get all of this in the truck bay and then we can wash up and start dinner, maybe put a DVD in the player. It looks like we have some I've never even heard of." That was one of the benefits of being in the future. This place had movies none of them had ever seen.

A good thing about being in a fire station was the fact that it had a lot of buckets. There was now one in each bathroom and one in the kitchen since while the dishwasher had power, it didn't have any water.

The breakers for a number of things had been found and turned off. Alexis had to boot up her computer system each time she wanted to use it and there were no glowing red lights anywhere now.

"We lived with a lot less before moving to Nassau after we were found and even then we didn't have much," Kate pointed out after listening to Martha question _what now._ They had power but no running water. The station used gas-fired tankless water heaters so that meant there was no storage tank creating hot water. Not that it mattered; there was no pressure to move the water with.

"I took you to the home they built, Grams," Alexis reminded her.

Martha shut up and thought back to that time. She had been amazed that these two built that place. Plus she had to admit that she hadn't seen any bathrooms at all.

"More food tomorrow for all of us. We have two new freezers to fill before what's out there goes bad. Or do you want to get more freezers? There **are** four of us." Alexis waited for Kate to tell her which was more important. The food was going to go fast.

Kate thought about it. They needed to get all they could before it spoiled. "Both," she decided. "Find us something with lots of windows. Castle and I will go looking for more freezers while you two find some freezers to rob. Just remember, lots of windows and do **not** go into the back where it's dark."

"You don't have to remind me," Alexis shuddered. "I've seen one of them and I don't want to end up one of those."

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"Where we going?" Martha inquired the next morning since Rick and Kate were out again to find more freezers.

"Here." Alexis handed over her printed sheets that was a map and a picture of the front wall that was all windows.

"Tropical Supermarket." Martha was in and then looked at the map. "Nothing closer?" It was a little ways away.

"I'm running out of grocery stores that are full of windows. Too many of them are just concrete boxes. I can't even find restaurants that are full of windows. With the power out we need to be careful."

"You were always the practical one of our family. Your father had his grand plans and you always kept him grounded. Now he has Katherine to keep him in place. Let's get started. Maybe they have more wine we can take." Martha smiled at her and gave Alexis directions which was simple since the map was marked.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"What do you think?" Kate looked at the place they had on their list.

"Windows," Rick pointed out. "Maybe we should look for another puppy. One that hates infecteds." He kind of liked the idea.

"Oh, so **now** you're warming up to Bear. I'm not good enough for you, am I?" Kate teased.

"Ha, ha, funny woman. Let's see what's up front since going in back is out." Rick opened the door and began walking for the place.

Kate started on one end and they met in the middle. "Looks like this place likes washers and dryers." It was all he saw just inside the windows.

"The freezers seem to be on that wall," she pointed. Then she drew her weapon and glared at Rick until he took his out as well.

Kate was all set to ask if he had the straps when she saw them dangling from his hand. She went inside and looked down each aisle of appliances on her way to the freezers and refrigerators.

"Double door freezer," Rick said. It was the first one they'd come across.

"Set up the straps." Kate looked toward the back wall.

Rick was busy and noticed that Kate hadn't taken her eyes off of the back wall. He stopped. "Something wrong?"

"I don't know exactly. I can feel that we're not alone even if I don't see anything." She was alert and worried. Suddenly a cloud passed overhead, darkening the place. Then Kate saw one of them; she instantly fired this time and saw him fall.

Immediately Rick was standing right next to her with his weapon out. Then he turned to look behind them and saw the sunlight starting to return. "It was a cloud that's passing." When Kate fired again, Rick spun around and fired his own shot and watched the guy or gal fall.

"The straps are in place. With or without?" Rick asked her. Meaning did they leave with the freezer and the straps or did they leave one or both?

Kate didn't see anyone else but she was still on alert and knew without seeing them that there were more. She gave him his answer. "Pick up your end and let's get out of here and go home. Maybe three more freezers are enough."

She kept an eye on the front wall of windows while they strapped their freezer to the bed of the truck. "Let's get out of here, Castle. I hate this place." She kept her eyes on it all the while as she got behind the wheel and started up the truck.

"Home or have you got another place?" Rick was ready to quit. The infecteds appeared to be everywhere.

"Just one. Appliance Direct, 1168 W Osceola Parkway in Kissimmee. It had a wall of windows as well." Kate handed him the papers so he could navigate. It was actually on the way home so they were at least going the right way.

Kate ended up stopping right out front and gazed in through the windows.

"I see a really big side by side right up front on the left," Rick commented and kept looking. "Want to take a look?" He didn't wait and opened his door. Then he walked up to the doors, looked inside, and far into the back.

"Looks like washers and dryers and ranges are up front. Except for this one, everything else is way in the back. Do we want it?" It was only half freezer much like the three the station already had.

Kate looked back at the truck. They now had three dedicated freezers plus what they already had. "How long before what's in the freezers will go bad? A week maybe?"

Rick thought about it. "What's in all of the refrigerators will have gone bad after a day or so. The freezer will stay cold for three days, maybe, if no one opens it."

"Then we take it. We need all we can get and then we'll fill them over the next two days." She opened the door followed by pulling her weapon out and eyed the back of the store.

Kate was happy to leave this store also even if she didn't see anyone or anything.

"Looks like we're going to find out if we have enough bags for the two vacuum sealers." Rick knew they had a lot but was it enough? "I wonder how Mother and Alexis are doing?" They were after frozen food.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"There was something in there, Alexis." Martha was sure of it.

Bear had started barking the second they had entered the place and while the meat section was way in the back, they didn't see a thing. Wary, they had been fast and had carried out handfuls of plastic bags filled with beef, chicken, turkey, and pork and threw all of it into boxes into the back of the truck. Then they looked at the store and debated whether to go back inside. It was just that Bear was still barking, a sure sign that danger lurked. Alexis made the decision. "We're leaving, Grams. There's always tomorrow and another store. Plus we need to get all of this into a freezer before it goes bad." What they had was still a little cold but not frozen.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Rick was busy trying to cook while he listened to the other three running both vacuum sealers. The two chest freezers were ready but the two new ones and the refrigerator-freezer needed time so they weren't going to be ready until tomorrow.

"Dinner's ready, ladies, if you're done," he announced since cooking stir-fry with chicken fried rice was quick and easy. "Shall we eat while watching another movie?".

"I saw a new Disney movie in there, we can try that one this time." Alexis had liked the last one but she wasn't interested in watching adventure tonight. Their lives were already filled with adventure.

"We need to find another source of meat tomorrow. We have to fill these freezers," Kate reminded Alexis; she had more research to do.

"I'll start looking right after dinner." Bear chose now to bark at her. "And after I feed Bear." Alexis added him to her list of things to do.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

All four of them in two trucks arrived at the place Alexis had found. It looked a little smaller than they had thought at first. "Meat Emporium." Kate looked it over. "Why this place again?" She wasn't sure this was the place they needed.

"There was a local wholesaler that would sell quarter to whole cows to anyone that asked. Even lamb was available. They then sent it to a processor who would butcher it, wrap it up in freezer paper, and label it. That was the Meat Emporium. We might get lucky. They could have meat wrapped and ready for customers that will never come. Perfect for us.

"It might be a little small, but if there are infecteds we should be able to clean the place out and empty this place of everything they have." With that, Alexis drew her weapon and readied it.

They had also shown up with both trucks loaded down with all of the boxes they could carry from all of their other shopping trips.

"Let's clean this place out then." Kate was in and pulled out her weapon and readied it.

It was long and narrow and full of non-refrigerated products up front. "Grab a box, Martha. I see some produce that might still be good. Let's clean this place out of everything." Make this their one last big score.

Kate went down one side with Rick right behind her. She saw Alexis go down the other with her weapon out like she had been taught. But it was Bear barking that had all of them on alert.

"Shoot, Lex, don't hesitate." Kate watched her nod.

Rick heard a sound behind him and spun with his weapon up. He let out a breath; it was just Martha filling a box before leaving to get another one.

"Help Martha, Castle. We can handle this. We need to fill those trucks and out of here as fast as we can." Kate turned to glare at him when he didn't move.

"I'm going, I'm going." Kate had a weapon in her hand and that alone made her dangerous.

Bear never did stop barking and always toward the back of the store. Right where they needed to go to get the meat they'd come there for.

Kate didn't know how long it had been when Rick showed up with his weapon out again. "The flat bed is full and Mother's using the ratchet straps to hold it all down," he told them. Kate twisted around, looking behind her, and was a little surprised at what she saw.

The front of the store looked like a crowd had cleared it out during a riot. Shelves that used to hold things looked rather bare and while there was still produce left, she was betting they'd decided it wasn't worth it.

"Bear really hates this place," Rick commented. The dog hadn't stopped barking yet. Kate looked over at Alexis who looked down at Bear but neither told him to stop.

"Let's see if we can get them to come to us instead of us going back there into the dark." Kate had a flashlight on her belt but it didn't illuminate all that much area.

"Find something big and heavy, Castle, and throw it at that door," Kate told him.

"Big and heavy, big and heavy." He came back carrying a slightly rotten water melon that had come from who knew where. This place had a lot of things in a language that he didn't understand. He and Martha had left all of it behind.

"Ready?" Rick asked just before heaving it at the door. He watched it break apart as well as force the door open a little for a moment.

Since the door was on her side Alexis immediately started firing her weapon and didn't stop until her clip was empty. She ejected the clip and let it hit the floor. Then she slapped in a new one, pulled the slide, and raised her weapon again.

Kate was smiling widely since the last time the two of them had run across an infected it had paralyzed her at first, but not this time.

"See anything?" Kate asked the others. Alexis shook her head.

"SHIT!" It meant the door had to stay open longer so they could see what to shoot at. The fact that Bear was still barking told them something was back there.

"We need something that will hold the door open longer." Kate tried to think of what they could use.

"I'll be right back." Rick had an idea and ran next door, taking the closest thing to the front door. Part of the good thing about this happening so fast was that no place was locked.

He returned with a child's bike. "Castle?" How was that going to help them?

"I'll crawl across the floor pushing this thing out in front of me and push the door open. I've got my flashlight and Martha's, too. I'll turn them on and throw them in. You two shoot whatever you see…or don't see." He was willing to let them empty a clip at nothing.

Alexis kept her eyes on the door and the second it opened, she started firing and emptied her second clip. Kate meanwhile waited for Castle to throw in his flashlights and then fired at all she saw followed by Alexis joining her with her next clip.

Even Rick who was lying on his back pulled out his weapon and fired at everything he thought he saw.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Two hours later they were all driving home with smiles on their faces. Alexis was playing with Bear and thanking him for his good work.

They had found 8 infecteds in the back room and had killed them all. They'd also found two entire cows that had been butchered and wrapped up in individual paper packages with what was inside them written on the outside.

They had found a fair amount of lamb and there was also some ground turkey and a lot of eggs. They had stripped the back empty bare and were driving home for another late night using the vacuum sealers.

Kate took a quick peek at Alexis and realized that she was proud of her. She had done well this time.

~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~

"Why am I here?" He almost never even saw the Void, let alone be in it. His friend, the only one he really had with this job, was standing next to him. "Don't you have a guide?" He was Death and didn't want to be a guide.

"Your request has been answered this time," he answered. As usual he was a little cryptic in what he said.

"My request?" Hunt thought about that for a second. "He said yes? I get to select a door?" Hunt had thought this day might never come. He looked at the giant wall of doors.

"Here is your door," his friend pointed out. Surprised, Hunt looked to suddenly see it was down to one.

"My door?" He didn't remember selecting a door. He didn't know how this section worked so it was possible. "What's on the other side?" He had no idea that millions if not billions had asked that question before him.

"A second chance, my friend. Don't screw this one up." In the space of a breath he vanished.

"Second chance? WHAT DO YOU MEAN, SECOND CHANCE? Second chance at what? Or who!" He thought for a moment then smiled for what felt like the first time in a really long time.

"Don't screw this up," he muttered. Steeling himself, he opened the door and looked. But he didn't really see anything. "Damn leap of faith! …No offense!" he quickly added, peering around to see if anyone was listening.

Hunt sighed. He walked through and closed the door. He was immediately in bright sunshine. He blinked then looked around. "DISNEY? REALLY?" He knew he needed things since this place was as barren except for some blowing trash, something he had never seen in his life. "This looks really bad."

What little he knew while going around touching person after person, had shown him how things were going on this world. He knew where he needed to go first. "I have to find a car." He began jogging toward the front entrance.


	27. Chapter 27

**Found - 11**

 _It has been close to 9 months since they arrived through the door_

"Why do you look so glum?" Rick walked up to Kate who was standing in the kitchen sipping her second cup of coffee. "Let me guess, we're running out of coffee." The only thing worse would be his mother running out of wine.

They were both interrupted by the sound of Alexis shooting her toy. "She's getting good with that thing, you know." Kate had inspected her target of choice and to say that it looked like Swiss cheese would be understating it.

"You're turning her into you." Rick reached for a cup to put coffee into.

"I am n…" Kate was ready to dispute his claim until she thought about it. "Maybe a little. She **is** amazing and it's not hard to love her." There was a time when she would have fought with herself not to admit that. But that time was long ago.

"Is Alexis why you look a little glum? You're in here drinking yet another cup of coffee while she's out front doing damage to a cargo container. Which if it was a bad as I'm thinking, you should be…or would be." Rick knew Kate well.

Kate smiled. "That or abusing the punching bag," she chuckled lightly.

"So back to my question. Why look so glum this morning?"

"I was with Alexis earlier this morning, just as the sun was coming up. We were going over the supplies. We still have water so we don't need to go looking for another tanker just yet." But they would eventually.

"I know two of our freezers are empty now and sitting unplugged out in the truck bay." Rick beat her to it just as Bear barked at the front door.

Both of them walked to the front door. Rick opened it and let him run to Alexis. Bear ran up and sat down near her feet as she fired yet another round.

"He's been really good for her. He's helped her get over missing her family." Kate had noticed that she wasn't nearly as sad as she used to be.

"You're avoiding my question again," Rick pointed out while Alexis lined up another shot.

Kate sighed. "We were looking at the time. It's been almost 9 months."

"We've been engaged for longer than that before." Rick guessed wrong but it earned him a kiss.

"Our diesel fuel can be expected to remain viable for another 3 months, if we're lucky. The second we lose power we'll be in big trouble. We can't go fishing here, or go pig or goat hunting, or get fresh water to drink from a stream." This was the 21st century, but it was one without power or running water.

Rick looked at her. She really was being serious and it was a condition that he despised deep down. However, she was also right. "Since you've been thinking about it, a little too seriously, I might add, what have you decided?"

Kate was spared an answer when Martha showed up. "What's wrong with Alexis?" She knew her granddaughter well.

"We need to think about moving. Our fuel is going to go bad soon and we'll lose power. While we know the infecteds have found us, they haven't yet had a reason to attack us." They knew the infecteds had been close because Bear woke them up, barking at them.

They'd noticed that the fuel line from the tanker to the generator had been messed with but never actually disconnected or damaged enough to cause a leak.

"Our fresh water will follow a few months later but all of our frozen food will go bad long before that happens. Yes, we have a lot of canned goods but it's not enough. Plus with no fuel to go get more canned food…" Kate trailed off.

Martha thought about it. "No wonder Alexis is depressed." They heard another shot being fired. "You two are making **me** depressed and it's a bit early for a glass of wine, even for me."

As they watched Alexis blow holes in her container each was caught up in their own thoughts. The last few months been a bit boring but they had done some exploring. They had even entered Disney during the day and walked around a little.

 _Their first trip had not gone well since Alexis had insisted on taking Bear with them._ _They_ _had no sooner gotten back to the same place_ _where_ _they_ _'_ _d found themselves on the_ _ir_ _very first day, tha_ _n_ _he had started barking and refused to stop. He even refused to take another step into the place no matter how much coaxing Alexis_ _did_ _. In the end_ _she'_ _d remained behind with Bear_ _just outside the turnstiles but where there was some shade from the sun and a place to sit_ _while the other three walked the park._ _But o_ _nly where there was daylight._

" _I'm not doing that again_ _,_ _Castle. That was just far too creepy_ _,_ _" Kate had_ _said_ _. "And if you go alone we'_ _ll be_ _divorced before we eve_ _n_ _actually get married."_

" _You're a good dog_ _,_ _Bear." Kate was with him and petted him before looking for something_ _hard to drink to settle her nerves._

" _I suggest you listen_ _,_ _Richard. That place was just wrong." Martha had patted his arm and walked away._

" _But it's Disney_ _,_ _" Rick_ _had_ _pouted. He_ _hated to give up. Plus they lived right next door to it. "We can try the Animal Kingdom."_

" _The animals are all dead by now_ _, D_ _ad, there_ _'_ _s no one there to feed them." Alexis_ _had_ _left him behind._

" _Epcot_ _,_ _maybe_ _,_ _"_ _he'd said_ _and_ _realized_ _no one_ _was_ _listening to him._

"Why is Bear barking in daylight?" Martha asked and looked outside. He only barked when he was happy or when there were infecteds near.

The other two looked as well and what they saw was Alexis and Bear running toward them; Alexis had left her toy behind. She was pointing behind her.

They looked at where she was pointing. Alexis arrived with Bear still barking. "There's a military vehicle headed this way on Floridian Way. Just the one." She turned back to look.

They watched a big green vehicle that had six tires rumble down the road toward them. Kate saw a weapon on top. She was guessing it was a machine gun of some caliber.

"It has grills all along the side. Isn't that a leftover from the Iraqi war? I thought they were all beige to hide in the sand," Alexis mentioned. "It's old." She didn't remember seeing this in active duty before she died.

"National Guard, maybe?" Rick suggested.

Kate started shaking her head. "It was empty." That was were they had gotten a lot of their weapons and ammunition even if they hadn't had to go very far into the base to find what they thought was enough for them.

"It looks like an old troop carrier. I think it was called a…Stryker maybe?" It was so old that Alexis wasn't sure.

They watched it drive right up to just outside the front door out in the street and listened to it shut down. Then a hatch opened and a man dressed in green climbed out; he stood there for a moment before climbing down.

Kate noticed that he had a weapon on his hip and she placed her hand on hers.

When he got closer the three of them noticed that Martha drew in a deep breath and clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Grams?" What Alexis saw on her face was a look she had never seen there in her life. She had seen something like it on her dad and Kate's face, but never on hers.

He stopped and looked at all of them. What they saw was a relatively young man, somewhere around 30 years old. He was tall, maybe a little taller than Rick, and thin but not overly so. His hair was military short and both Alexis and Kate silently admitted that he was handsome. But Kate saw something else that should be impossible. A familiarity that left her with a lot of questions.

"Hello, Katherine, …Alexis, …son. Martha." He said the last name with a hint of reverence, something reserved for a loved one. "You're as young and beautiful as I remember," he added, keeping his gaze on Martha.

"You know us?" Kate questioned.

Rick had heard a word pertaining to himself. " **SON?** " Kate turned to look at him as did Alexis.

"Hello, Jackson," Martha said, her voice breaking. All three of their family turned to look at her. She had tears starting down her cheeks.

They watched as he walked right up to Martha and took both of her hands. "It's been a long time, Martha. This time I don't have anywhere else to be, but here." He smiled at her and Martha melted, her legs giving out from under her. Jackson moved quickly, wrapping his arms around her to hold her up.

"You are?" Kate asked with her hand still on her weapon.

"Are you…?" Alexis had an idea and it was a wild one.

"Mother?" Rick wanted answers.

"You've done well here, I see. Bars on the windows, iron doors, everyone has weapons. I think I hear a generator in the background and I heard a very interesting weapon being fired. Was that really you?" He looked at Alexis. "I'm dying to see what your target looks like. If that's the weapon I think it is, did you know that you could put holes in my little toy here?" He nodded at his vehicle.

"I want to know who you are," Kate demanded. She wanted to know what was going on.

"So do I… MOTHER!" Rick glared at the two of them.

"I think he's my grandfather." Alexis looked him over again and saw a lot of her dad in him. Especially since they were now almost the same age.

Kate looked at Alexis and then looked at Martha before ending on Jackson.

"You're as handsome as I remember you." Martha had never taken her eyes off of him. "You're not going…" Had she heard correctly or was it a dream?

"I no longer work for anyone. Though I do have a lot to tell you. I've learned a lot," Jackson said.

"You can start with who you are." Rick wanted answers; he had waited long enough.

"Richard, this is Jackson Hunt. Jackson, this is… This is your son." Martha watched her son's mouth fall open.

"You should recognize me, son. I've touched you. Actually I've touched Katherine three times and Alexis once. Even you once, Martha. And each time it hurt so much," Jackson admitted. He raised his hand to brush Martha's tears away only to have her take his hand and hold it against her face.

"Three times?" Kate had never seen him before in her life.

"Three." Rick looked at Kate and then at Jackson. "You're Death." Rick had never seen him all the time he had worked in the Void.

"Death," Alexis whispered; she had never seen him before, either.

Jackson turned to look at them. "I was for longer than I care to remember. I was taken from Martha with a call and another mission. It was my last mission, a mission where everything went south. Very south. I remained behind to make sure the team I had brought in to help me got out safely. I died during that mission. I'm…I'm sorry that I couldn't come back to you, my beautiful girl.

"I've been Death ever since. Touching people and sending them to the Void."

"So you're military?" Kate tried to understand since he was dressed like one and arrived in a military vehicle.

"No, well early on in my life, yes. I became a private contractor and I cleaned up messes."

"Messes, whose messes?" Kate didn't understand and didn't see Rick just standing there staring at him.

"My country's messes. Messes that the CIA either got us into or couldn't get us out of. I got to be pretty good at it, too. Until that one mission. The intel on that mission was all wrong. I've spent years and years replaying that mission in my mind. I reached a conclusion that I couldn't prove, that being that the CIA had set me up." Jackson had been angry for a very long time.

"You're CIA?" Rick asked. He'd spent a lot of time dreaming about what his father was. A CIA agent had been one of them.

"The CIA paid me but I didn't work for them. Not directly. My theory is that I became a liability because I knew too much. I knew enough to bring down an entire presidential office if I wanted to. I didn't but I'm betting someone panicked and that was the end of me."

"You're my father?" Rick was having trouble keeping up.

"I watched what I could when I could as I went around touching people." Jackson had tried to stay in the loop. "It's not like I can read people's minds when I touch them. Mostly I just read their surroundings and reach a conclusion based on who and what I see. I've gotten pretty good at it over the years." Jackson smiled a smile that had Martha melting just a bit more.

"You killed people?" Kate was beginning to not like him.

Alexis shook her head. "I don't think so, Kate. That's not how I remember the Void working."

"I didn't select who to touch. I simply touched them which sent them to the Void. Someone else chose who I was to touch. I never ever saw him. All I ever saw was the man who offered me the job," Jackson explained.

"Lord Voldemort," Alexis said.

That had Jackson chuckling. "I wouldn't ever call him that to his face, if I was you. But yes, that's him. I saw him a lot. He became my best friend. Every time I saw him I would voice my question or silently ask it. It was me asking for a second chance. …The answer was always no. Until suddenly he showed up and told me the answer was yes.

"He told me not to screw it up this time. …I've got no where else I have to go, Martha. Not this time." Jackson looked deeply into her eyes.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Rick was sitting across from Jackson while Kate and Alexis did the cooking. Martha sat next to Jackson, holding his hands.

Rick had never seen the look on his mother's face that she had now. She was totally captivated by him. She had a look of happiness that no other man had ever been able to put there. "So how did you get here?" Rick inquired while playing with his glass of Scotch. He had decided that even as early as it still was, he needed a drink.

"The same way you did, through a door. Left me standing right in the middle of Disney with a train station behind me. At first I thought I was in Disneyland. It wasn't until I picked up a park map that I learned different."

"How did you find us?" Alexis asked from where she was standing.

"You killed a few infecteds so I touched them. I only lost my job touching people the other day. Nasty creatures, let me tell you. From there I watched where you went before I was forced to move on. I pieced together roughly where you went and took a gamble. I don't know much else about where we are other than that. I was kept pretty busy for a time. The infecteds didn't just infect people, they killed a lot of people as well. Kept me pretty busy." Jackson had touched so many people in such a short period of time.

"From Disney I went to the National Guard and picked up a few things like my little toy out front. I only had a vague idea where you were. After that I followed the sound of a sniper rifle being fired. …That was really you?" Jackson looked at Alexis and saw her start to blush. "That's impressive. I know a guy that would be proud of you. Well, did know. I touched him, too." Jackson let his head fall to his chest. He had touched so many people: friends, foes, and people he had never even seen before.

Rick watched his mother squeeze his hands and kiss his cheek. Jackson smiled back at her.

"I also know we need to leave and where we need to go," Jackson revealed. "There's a place that's free from the infection. They've spent the last nine months building a wall to surround them to keep the infecteds out. There are thousands of people living there. They're doing pretty well."

"We know of a ballistic missile submarine that survived. We've only communicated with them once, though." Alexis feared the Russians had found them and killed them. It reminded her that she needed to post another message on her board. The one that they had found her with the first time.

"I've touched a lot of military people but I don't remember any on an operational submarine," Jackson remarked which left Alexis with some hope.

"Where and how many?" Kate left what she was doing and stood behind Castle.

"Fort Leonard Wood Army Base in Pulaski, Missouri," Jackson said.

Kate's face had begun to light up but when she heard that the sanctuary was in Missouri, her whole body seemed to crumple inward. "Missouri. Might as well be Alaska." It was too far for them to reach. They were sure to be killed by the infecteds.

Jackson cleared his throat. "I have an idea about that. It means going back to the National Guard Base to pick up a few things, though, which won't be easy to get. That place is crawling with infecteds."

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

They were eating what Kate and Alexis had fixed. "I haven't had a steak in forever. Actually after dying I never actually ate anything ever again. I forgot how good food could taste. My compliments." Jackson tilted his fork at Kate and Alexis.

"You have a plan?" Kate wanted to hear it since they didn't have one and they didn't have much time left.

"The base has a command and control trailer. It also has a few things built into it. One is a small kitchenette and can hold some food in refrigerated bins under the floor. A little bit of space for dry goods. It works mostly off of items being disposable instead of being cleaned. Mostly that's just plates, glasses, silverware. The stove and refrigerated bins work on propane so we will need to bring some extra propane tanks. It also has a few beds that are little more than cots that fold down from a wall. The communication equipment can reach almost anywhere using satellites.

"We should be able to use it to reach the base in Missouri and talk to them before we even leave and all during our trip. We might even be able to talk them into meeting us somewhere and escorting us behind their wall."

Kate was shaking her head. "It's too far. The roads are too full of abandoned cars and trucks. We don't have a car that can drive that far." Kate didn't see how his plan could work.

"True, which is why we need another Stryker. One Stryker is used to tow the command trailer while the other Stryker will be towing a military tanker behind it. Filled with Diesel while the diesel is still good to be used."

Kate thought about it and saw a flaw. "Don't military vehicles get terrible mileage?"

Alexis inserted her knowledge about today into his plan. "The military doesn't use diesel anymore. Except maybe for your old Strykers. They use hydrogen now. We would still need to tow something that would convert something into hydrogen, though. We could even pick up the materials we need for the conversation along the way.

"Your Strykers are too old." Alexis shot part of his plan down.

Impressed, Jackson smiled at her. Her intellect was amazing. "In either case we'll need to strap a number of things to the outside of each vehicle. Water cans, extra food, any number of things. If we can find the right ones, you might even get to use that cannon of yours while poking your head out the top."

"Food, fuel, water and transportation and a place to go." Kate was warming up to this plan. "How many infecteds are we talking about?" What was between them and this plan?

Jackson sat back and let go of Martha's hands. "Hundreds, possibly." It was a National Guard Base and to get what they wanted and not just a few weapons on the exterior, they had to go deep and search the base for what they needed.

Kate, Alexis, and Rick suddenly lost their appetite.


	28. Chapter 28

**Found - 12**

Kate kind of liked his old Stryker as she helped load it with weapons and some food and water. Looking it over she could see that if they had to they could close it up, stay inside, and be perfectly safe. The infecteds could pound on it all they wanted until the bones in their hands broke; they weren't going to get inside.

She had even sat in the driver's seat and had very been concerned about the lack of vision this thing had. It didn't just have blind spots, it had massive blind gaps.

"Comfortable?" Alexis looked down at her through the opening in the top.

"How do you drive this thing?" Kate liked part of it, just not this part.

Alexis made an _I don't know_ face. "Don't ask me, ask him. We're not keeping it so don't worry about it too much. We want a pair of the newer models. I think even you will like those." She had been up half the night doing research on what they were looking for.

"Care to join me? I have to post a message on my board in case our submarine captain is still alive." Alexis then helped Kate climb out, go down the side, and head back inside.

Alexis had to turn everything back on since she had shutdown to conserve on power. "Okay, let's see if anyone's listening." She started typing her message and hit send. It only took a moment for her to get a text response, much like the first time. _I've called for the_ _c_ _aptain. Do you still have audio and video capability?_ was the answer she received almost instantly.

"THEY'RE ALIVE!" Alexis clapped her hands over her mouth and was ready to start crying. Then she brought them down and began typing. "Give me a minute."

Alexis waved at the officer she saw last time. "Hi."

"It's good to see you, miss," Jarod said. "The captain should be here in a minute."

She stated the obvious. "You escaped the Russians."

"It's what we do." He shrugged and then suddenly Captain Zimmerman was on her screen.

"Ladies, it's good to see you. How have you been?" He had a number of questions for them but wanted to be nice first. These young ladies were definitely not military so he couldn't treat them like they were.

"It's good to see you too, Captain," Kate smiled widely.

"May I ask where you are, Captain? I ask because we'll be moving soon. We can't stay here much longer," Alexis explained.

"Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. We've only just arrived. We needed a port to attempt to get supplies. We're getting set up to go into the base now. May I ask why you're moving?" If they had managed to last this long why did they need to move?

"Corpus Christi." Alexis started typing and Kate saw the place come up on one of her screens. Then another screen started showing what was housed there.

"Naval Air Training Command, Corpus Christi Army Depot. They might be able to put that to good use. Coast Guard Air Station, Training Air Wing Four (TW4), VT-31 Wise Owls, VT-35 Stingrays, Navy Operational Support Center, Naval Health Clinic, Fleet and Industrial Supply Center, Marine Aviation Training Support Group, Us Customs and Border Protection, Coast Guard Air Station, DLA Distribution, Surveillance Support Center, Veterinary Treatment Center.

"This might work." Alexis had a plan in mind.

"You two seem well informed. What have you learned? Is everywhere still infected?" He was about to head for the base with a recon in force.

"Are you recording this?" Alexis inquired and saw Jarod nod. "Good. We've learned of a place that we believe is infection free. It's Fort Leonard Wood Army Base in Pulaski, Missouri. We're making preparations to go into our local National Guard Base to acquire necessary supplies and equipment then we're going to drive there. After we establish communications with them. We can't do that from here."

"Jarod." The captain looked at him.

"On it, sir. I should have them online in a moment. If they're monitoring," Jarod replied

The captain responded to Alexis and Kate's shocked faces. "We're a ballistic missile sub, we can talk to anyone. Talk to me about the infected." He still needed to get into this base.

"They're everywhere, Captain. Our initial thought was that they were dumb, almost mindless idiots, however, of late we're beginning to think that at least a few are smarter than that. They hate sunlight or even bright lights.

"We lost power months ago and have been running on our emergency generator since then. We need to leave here soon before the diesel fuel goes bad. Once our generator stops working we're as good as dead," Kate said grimly. They had kept movement at night to a minimum and that had done their best to place blackout curtains on all the windows. It meant the infecteds couldn't look in and see them. So far, not being seen had been working out. Or at least that was what they based it on.

"Captain, you need to decide what to do and do it fast. We put an additive in our diesel fuel that allowed it to last longer. But even that fuel is going to go bad very soon. You need to keep that in mind in what you decide to do," Alexis cautioned.

"Sir, I have a Captain Gregory on the line. Audio only." Jarod pointed to the phone behind his captain.

"Don't go away." Zimmerman meant Kate and Alexis and left the screen to pick up the phone. Kate and Alexis couldn't hear him and could barely see him.

Alexis talked to Jarod since he was the only one there. "How are you doing?"

"We're nuclear so we have lots of power. We make our own air and water, but we've been on rations for weeks." Jarod was and had been a little hungry for a while at this point.

"Stick to only canned goods. Everything else will either be spoiled or possibly infected. The infecteds aren't dead so they aren't zombies. They need food to eat just as much as we do. We don't know for sure, but we're guessing that they aren't picky about what they eat," Alexis advised.

Kate and Alexis saw his face go just a touch green for a second. "I'll pass that along, thank you. How many of you are there? Where you are." Jarod was full of his own questions, plus those two were drop dead gorgeous.

"This is Kate." Alexis lifted a hand to point behind her at Kate. "I'm Alexis. My dad, Kate's husband, is here and my grandmother's here also."

"And Jackson Hunt," Kate added and suddenly the captain was on their screen like he had just pressed his face into the camera.

"Jackson Hunt? Did I hear you correctly?" He knew that name and he was racking his brain to come up with the details.

"Yes, why?" Kate was concerned now. All they had was his word, the way Martha treated him, and what little she knew about him. Beyond the fact that Martha had been then and still was head over heels in love with him.

"Something I was told… Something I read somewhere." He just couldn't get the information to come out. Then he was gone again and back on the phone.

Kate leaned down to Alexis. "That was interesting," she whispered into her ear and Alexis stealthily nodded once.

Alexis began talking to Jarod again. She was looking for information and besides, he was sort of cute. "You escaped that Yasen, I take it."

"It took us a while. Captain Zimmerman thought their captain might be too fixated on protecting his country from our missiles so we went back across the Atlantic, only instead of heading for our home port he took us into the Gulf instead. Tampa was the closest largest naval yard so we bypassed it and went someplace smaller. We evade, it's what we do." Yes, they had combat torpedoes to attack with, but that wasn't what they were made for.

Kate and Alexis watched what they thought was him hanging up the phone only to grab another one and hang it up a second later.

"Ladies, I've spoken with the base's captain. He'll be on the lookout for you and if you find a way to contact him he'll even send out a heavily armed patrol to guide you in behind their wall. After that you'll all end up in quarantine for a while while they do blood work on you," Captain Zimmerman informed them.

"Thank you, Captain. We still have to gather our supplies and equipment and survive the trip, but at least we know that where we're going is the right place." Kate was happy for that. It helped with her opinion of Hunt.

Suddenly another crewman showed up behind the captain and he left them to talk to him. Kate and Alexis could make out some of what he was saying but he was just too far away from the mic to catch all of it. Then the new man was gone again.

"With this new information we're going to look into joining you all there if we can find enough equipment and supplies." Getting those wasn't going to be easy. He had an entire crew to transport through hostile terrain.

"Try to stick with all hydrogen power, Captain. You'll be able to create your own fuel along the way so long as you don't run out of power." Alexis recommended since it took power to create the necessary hydrogen.

He was becoming more impressed with these two. "Jarod, give them our communication codes. If you can, ladies, try and stay in touch while you travel. If you get into trouble maybe one of us will be able to help." Captain Zimmerman kept the _"Maybe you can help us_ _,_ _"_ to himself. He was going to have a long train of vehicles to carry this many people.

"I have a mission to plan. Good luck, ladies. I look forward to seeing you in quarantine." Captain Zimmerman left them to talk to Jarod and get the information they would need to keep in touch with each other.

"Travel safely, ladies." Jarod waved at the two of them and then killed the transmission.

"I think he likes you," Kate teased Alexis since she was convinced he had never taken his eyes off of her from the moment she'd said that Kate was married.

"He's been stuck on a submarine for nine months," Alexis argued. Of course he was looking at them. "Besides, I'm too old for him." Alexis tried to stifle a giggle since he was clearly older than she was now.

"I'm just saying. Come on, shut down and let's get going. We're not going to get there if we can't find what we need at the base." Kate rubbed both her arms. "And I still say he has a crush on you." She retreated before Alexis could throw anything at her.

Alexis shut down and looked at her blank screens. "He **was** cute." She shook her head. It was never going to happen.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate chose to sit up front while everyone else was in back with all their supplies. "How do you see where you're going?" The windows, if that was what they were, were really narrow and not long. Though she could see that he had a couple of screens spread around plus his gauges.

"First rule of driving: what's behind you is not important…until you have to back up. I have a mini camera for that." Hunt tapped one of his screens. "I can't wait to see the newest version of this."

Kate had a slight smile on her face since Hunt drove a lot like her. Cars that were in the way and standing alone simply got shoved off to one side by smashing into them. Others got pushed and the junk was driven over without a care in the world.

She reached for the maps that Alexis had printed out. There was even a Google shot of the entire base as tight as Alexis could get it. They were old, yes, but it was all they had. Hunt had admitted that except for his quick trip here to get what he had, he, much like them, had not spent much time here.

"The new Strykers look like they're here." Kate pointed even if Hunt couldn't see. "There are trailers parked here; hopefully one of them is what you talked about and I can see the fuel trailers." She kept looking. "We're going to need keys, aren't we?" Finding those was going to be a challenge.

"They're either located in the command and control room or maintenance will have a copy. We need into maintenance anyway." Hunt turned his head to look at her and saw a puzzled look on her face. "Spare parts, spare wheels, tools to do the work with. A lot of that, like the tires, can be attached to the hull. We need the space inside for other things." Hunt knew they would need a lot since they had a long way to go.

"One thousand, one hundred thirty one miles." Kate shook her head. They were dead if they stayed here but at least this way they had a chance.

"Longer, since we're going to plan our trip with other bases in mind along the way. That's in case we need to change vehicles or need spare parts. Or if our hydrogen maker gives up the ghost or some other unforeseen problem," Hunt explained.

Kate gave him that one since it wasn't something she'd considered. However, they hadn't spent much time planning the trip. Just knowing what they needed from this place.

Hunt stopped at the entrance and turned to look at everyone behind him. "I'm going to stop at what looks like the roll up for the maintenance bays. Behind us will be all the Strykers and everything else parked outside. You three go find what we need and tag it so we can find it later.

"Kate and I will go inside and search for the keys. Then you'll go see if we have the right keys and fire them up and move them. Hook up the trailers if you can. Then we start searching for everything else. If we have to, we sleep tonight in this thing.

"Everyone stay safe." Hunt turned around, put it in gear, and headed into the base.

Since everything was marked and it had arrows, finding the maintenance area wasn't hard. Just like he'd said, Hunt parked right in front of the roll up door.

Hunt was checking his weapon of choice which was a small submachine gun along with his side arm that was at his hip. He even handed one to Kate who prepared it and stowed her extra clips anywhere she could.

"You three should be fine out here in the sunlight. We need two upgraded Strykers, that command and control trailer, and that hydrogen maker on its own trailer. Find a way to mark what you find so we can find it easier. Pray they have what we need." Hunt watched Rick and Kate kiss and found Martha in front of him.

"Don't get yourself killed Jackson. I've waited too long for this day." There were tears in Martha's eyes.

Hunt stroked her face. "As have I. I'll be back." He kissed her like it was going to be their last kiss.

Hunt and Kate watched them start walking out into the lot to begin looking.

"We need to get this roll up open. Get some sunlight inside." This place reminded her of the Disney Maintenance building and its roll up doors.

"Open this door and get the roll up open; I'll cover you," Hunt said, agreeing that they needed sunlight.

Unsurprisingly the man door next to the roll up was not locked. Kate opened it, took a quick peek, and moved inside to get to the roll up door, trying to find a way to open it without power.

It was dark inside; the only light in this windowless place was the door Hunt was holding open. Hunt detected movement and started firing.

Kate wanted to look to see how much trouble they were in or start firing herself. But she needed to get this damn roll up door open. Doing that would help the both of them the most.

Hunt stopped for a moment and just as Kate found the rods locking the door in place and pulled one, she heard a magazine hit the floor followed by the sound of a new one being slammed into place. Hunt fired again. Kate reached down and grabbed the handle and lifted and shoved the roll up until it stopped.

She turned around and saw dead infecteds almost everywhere and even saw the backsides of other running for the darkness. "Do I want to know how many?" She was sure she wasn't going to like the number.

"Nope." Hunt kept it simple. "Keys." He pointed to a small glass-enclosed room and moved to one just like it, all while keeping his eyes on the dark recesses and what lurked there.

In moments they had a pile of keys just outside the roll up door. Hunt looked up at the metal mezzanine that was on each side. "Parts, tires. …Stay here and cover me." He shouldered his weapon and started climbing.

Kate kept her eyes mostly glued to the darkness in the distance, though she took peeks up at Hunt as he manhandled a tire over the railing. She watched it hit the floor and bounce for a moment. That tire was followed by two more then by Hunt climbing down. Kate watched him walk across and climb up to the parts area. She was watching as a box was suddenly being lowered by a rope to the ground. "Untie it for me?" He needed his rope back so he could do it again.

She suddenly spun at a noise to find Alexis picking up a pile of keys. "Are these all of them?" It was a fair number but there were a lot of vehicles out in the yard.

"So far. What did you find?" Kate stopped looking at Alexis, looked into the darkness, and then up at Hunt.

"We've got the newer Strykers. One of them has what looks like a missile launcher on top. We've even got one that's medical with a big red cross on the side. We've also found the hydrogen maker. Dad and Grams are still looking for the command and control trailer."

"Any Stryker will do, though the medical one might be nice." Hunt slowly lowered another box as Alexis glanced up and began jogging away to see if any of these keys worked.

Kate took a peek at the box as she untied his rope again. "Oil?" He had talked about parts.

"Engine oil, transmission fluid, spare parts. We need a lot. Keep your eyes open." He didn't trust these infecteds for a moment. Sunlight or darkness. They had killed some of theirs and he was thinking they were going to want payback no matter what it cost.


	29. Chapter 29

**Found - 13**

Kate was untying yet another box when she heard an engine start up. "I think they found something. I hear an engine running," she called up to Hunt. Then she looked into the darkness and whipped her weapon into place, deciding to empty a clip at what she thought she saw.

She quickly replaced that clip with a fresh one and pointed into the darkness again. "They're getting bolder," she warned.

"I was afraid of that." Hunt pulled his rope up, tied it to yet another box and lowered it.

Kate was watching the darkness again when she heard Alexis and turned to see her. "KATE!" Alexis frantically pointed into the shadows. Kate spun and saw two of them running out into the sunshine; they started screaming from the pain. However, they kept running. She started firing and cut them down before they reached her. This was followed by hearing Bear barking in the background. Alexis whirled around and drew her weapon.

"HUNT, get down here. We've got trouble," Kate yelled then rushed to Alexis.

"I left Bear with Dad and Grams. They shouldn't be out there." Alexis didn't see how it was possible.

"In or possibly under a trailer, maybe," Hunt commented, standing right behind them. "You two go right, I'll go left." He began walking while Kate and Alexis headed out into the yard.

"I heard an engine earlier," Kate whispered while she kept looking.

"One set of keys worked. But we have a problem. It was out of fuel. We're going to need to make some before we can leave here," Alexis replied quietly.

They slowly made their way toward the sound of Bear barking. What they found was Rick standing next to Martha with Bear out in front of them. Rick and Martha both had weapons in hand. Bear was barking at a trailer while Rick and Martha were pointing their weapons at it. "We think one or more of them are inside it," Rick said after seeing Kate and Alexis.

Hunt showed up with his weapon not in position. "Perfect," he grumbled sourly; he couldn't believe it. "The Command and Control trailer." It was just their luck. "What about the other items?" he queried.

Alexis answered his question with good and bad news. "We located both updated Strykers and a portable hydrogen producing trailer. Unfortunately the Strykers don't have any fuel. We're going to need to make some just to get them out of this yard."

"Show me." Hunt would like to see what they were going to be working with.

Alexis took him to the first one.

"An A M1134 ATGM fitted with slat armor. Nice!" Hunt was all smiles.

"It has an anti-tank weapon on top," Alexis pointed out. "What's the other one?"

"An M1127 Reconnaissance Vehicle. It'll do." Hunt was happy with what they had. "You know how to make hydrogen?" That was the next hurdle since he had no idea.

"I did some research last night. But I've never actually done it," Alexis reported.

"Did the generator have a storage tank with it?" If it didn't they had another problem and might need a third Stryker.

"It looks like it did." What Alexis knew about it. The generation device looked like a large gas dispenser at a gas station. The big tank behind it she was hoping was where the hydrogen it created went in to before being dispensed into the car or truck or whatever.

"Better get started then. It looks like we'll be spending the night here," Hunt said. "Now how do we get that thing out of OUR trailer?" He started thinking about that on the way back.

"Do you like them?" Kate asked Hunt when he got back.

"They'll do. We just need hydrogen since they're both running on empty. Alexis is starting work on that. Hopefully she has everything she needs." Hunt hadn't bothered to ask about that.

"I'll go check on her," Rick offered and left to look for her. "Bear, come on. Find Alexis." He hadn't stopped barking yet. Though hearing the name of his best friend who he couldn't find had him following Rick.

"We have an idea about our friend inside," Kate told him.

"I'm all ears, since shooting him out isn't going to happen." They needed the trailer in working condition, not full of holes.

"If we open both doors before the sun goes down, maybe he'll come out on his own during the night. We **are** spending the night here, right?" Kate didn't think they had a choice.

"Yep, but in the one we came in; it at least has power since we'll need it." He didn't like the idea of trying to get any sleep in a dead Stryker.

"You better come with us, Martha. We need to keep gathering spare parts and other things. Like a missile to put in our anti-tank gun." He was betting it was sitting empty, which meant more trouble.

"Anti-tank gun? What do we need with an anti-tank gun?" Kate couldn't imagine why they would need that much fire power.

"Came with the Stryker they found. I didn't pick it." Hunt kept walking. Kate looked questioningly at Martha since Rick and Alexis were gone. Martha just shrugged. The keys they had been given had worked.

Hunt went back to taking boxes down to Kate until he thought they had enough. By then Rick and Alexis had joined them.

"Weapons and ammunition?" Hunt started.

"We have that back at the station," Kate answered. "Food and water is there, too."

"Which is good since we will need water and power to make the hydrogen. The water tank on the trailer is small as is the diesel generator that's on it," Alexis announced.

"We need diesel still!? SHIT!" That was **not** the kind of news Kate wanted to hear.

"It looks like it stores it in a small tank for dispensing. So long as we have water and power we can make all the hydrogen we need." Alexis didn't think it was a problem. They just needed to take some diesel with them.

"We've got oil for the engines, transmission fluid, and a number of spare parts. We just need a lot to the tools located here." Hunt was almost happy. Almost.

"We have a lot of tools back at the station," Kate informed him.

"Maybe you do, but the military is an entity unto itself. They like to use…there are any number of parts that your tools can't help with or get just anywhere." Hunt knew they weren't going to like it.

"IDIOTS!" Kate was ready to shoot someone, preferably who thought this was such a good idea.

"FUCK!" Alexis cursed. "What? I only look like I'm 16." She saw the looks she was getting.

"Do we leave and come back tomorrow or spend the night locked up in your toy?" Rick asked since he knew what he preferred to do. Home had a nice warm bed that he could share with Kate.

Hunt looked at Alexis. "How long to make one tank of hydrogen?"

"A little over 48 hours. Closer to 53 actually." Alexis knew they weren't going to have any hydrogen to work with today. "Unless we can find a tank that's already full. The problem with that is getting the Strykers to that tank when they have none."

"Sunset's in about four hours," Kate said, meaning they had time to get home.

"We have a Stryker that has an anti-tank missile launcher. It would be helpful if all of the weapons on it worked and that included the other one that has a 50. cal on top," Hunt said. "We do that tonight or tomorrow when we get back."

Alexis added another problem. "Our diesel is good for at least another 3 months. This place, not a chance. The generator is running now, but on bad diesel; I don't know for how long."

"Question answered. We go home, load up on diesel, and come back," Kate decided.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Rick was cooking dinner for everyone. Kate found Hunt in the day room flipping channels. "There isn't anyone. The radio is equally dead." She'd given up months ago.

"You can't win if you don't play," Hunt countered; he turned off the TV and tossed the remote into a chair. He had something they needed to talk about before it became an issue.

"Katherine, I'm not here to take command over everyone. To be honest I didn't even know the door would bring me here. I was willing to go anywhere. You can't imagine knowing the people you touch are meant to die. Technically I didn't kill them; I just sent them to the Void. But it didn't feel like that sometimes," Hunt admitted to her, his face reflecting the pain he felt.

"Why are you telling me this?" Kate thought maybe she understood but needed to be sure.

Hunt raised his head. "Because **you** are in charge here." He waved his hands when she started to object. "My son is **not** a leader no matter how much information is in his head. Martha is who Martha is. She's perfectly happy with how things work here. As for Alexis, she may be brilliant but she doesn't see herself as a leader. She's happy to help whoever is in charge, especially if that person is you.

"I may not know a lot given that I was dead and only learned a little with each death, but I know leaders when I see one and **you** , Katherine, are a leader. If I overstep one of these times, please feel free to put me back in my place.

"I don't really want to fall back into what I used to be. Martha deserves better this time and I'm going to do my best to give it to her. I simply ask that you not ignore the skills I can provide, at least until we get to where we want to go." Hunt was silent; he'd said all he wanted to say.

"I…I don't know what to say." She wasn't sure what to expect after he had shown up.

"Just do what you do. I'm going to go find Alexis and help plan a route for us between here and there that includes bases where we might get help or find parts that we need. Twelve hundred miles more or less, at say 30 miles per hour if we're lucky, is going to take a long time." Hunt left Kate and went in search of Alexis.

"Turn right," Kate called out to him and watched him go in the correct direction.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"WOW, this is quite the system you have here." Hunt walked into the room where Alexis was sitting. "I bet you could reach anyone with this thing." He liked the look of it.

"Not exactly but we have managed to talk to the captain of a ballistic missile submarine. We even have his contact information so we can keep in touch along the way so long as we have satellite communication," Alexis said.

"So long as that Command and Control trailer is operational we can do that. Even that Recon Stryker might be able to do it. We can talk to them and send updates to Fort Leonard Wood Army Base.

"The Command and Control trailer will have computers and printers so we don't need any of this. Are there any more of those headsets all of you are wearing?" Hunt would like to have one.

"Kate knows where they are, you can ask her," Alexis answered.

"Okay, thanks." Then he told her the reason he was there. "We need to work out our route between here and there along with a couple of alternates in case the roads prove impassible. Let's start with from here to the closest base with or without Strykers."

Alexis sighed, thinking that this was going to take some time.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"I decided on the best steaks that we have left since we'll all be eating MREs soon," Rick announced and handed out plates with the last of the T-bone and tenderloin steaks that they had. That and baked potatoes, canned green beans, and bread from one of their bread machines.

Hunt shot a hole in Rick's announcement. "Actually the Command and Control trailer has a mini kitchen. It's not big enough for a turkey and there isn't enough storage for steaks but we don't have to eat MREs unless you want to. Ground whatever would be better. Takes up less space Everything else will need to be canned or dehydrated."

"We have roughly 1200 miles to travel. If we average 30 miles per hour it'll take us 5 days. And it takes 48 hours to create one 30 gallon tank of hydrogen. Based on the estimated mileage we can expect those 5 days will expand to closer to two to almost three weeks. Because we'll be forced to stop to create fuel to fill our tanks roughly every two days." Alexis had done the math.

"I've tried to account for making fuel while we travel so that we might cut that down a couple of days. It's just that the variables are too great to know for sure," Alexis continued and took a bite of her steak, which might be her last steak.

"So we need food and water for three weeks at a minimum, four would be better." Kate wondered if they had the storage capacity for that much in supplies. "Plus all the weapons and ammunition we can carry and still leave room for us."

"Each Stryker has two seats up front and there are five of us so one person in one Stryker will need to be in back. Riding in the trailer is out for a number of reasons," Hunt confirmed.

Kate tried to remember what the inside had looked like and was beginning to like their chances a little better.

"Keep in mind the plan is to attach as much as we can to the outside, under the cage, as well as on top. Mostly food and water," Hunt reminded them.

Martha asked her first question. "And where do we…go?"

"Every time we stop we find a tree or bush. If it's at night we use a bucket." Hunt had done worse several times, however, he knew Martha wasn't going to like it.

"A bucket," Martha said flatly with a glare at the lot of them. "Can we add a trailer and carry one of those porta-potties?" she asked hopefully.

Kate could sympathize but they couldn't do that. "Even if we could attach another trailer onto the end of one of the trailers, we can't afford the extra length. You've seen what the freeways look like, Martha. We had trouble with just the truck and we'll be what, three times that length?" Kate looked at Hunt who simply nodded.

"Think of it as going camping, Martha." Hunt tried that, not really expecting to change her mind.

"My idea of going camping includes a bathroom with a toilet," Martha countered frostily.

"You just won an acting job that requires you to go camping in the woods, Mother," Rick said. It was the roll of a lifetime, one that could save her life.

Kate tried a different tactic. "It's only for three weeks, Martha. If I can get my children to do it for 15 years, you can last 3 weeks." It earned her a very nasty glare from Martha.

Giving up, Kate inquired, "What's our route?" thinking that Alexis and Hunt had had long enough to create at least one route.

Alexis looked at her list. "Our possible first stop is Camp Blanding on the Florida, Georgia border. Next is Moody Air Force Base just across the border. Then the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, followed by Fort Benning just outside Columbus, Georgia. Next in line is Birmingham ANGB. Though, if necessary there is one base between those last two.

"Maxwell Air Force Base. Next in line is Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi. After that is Naval Support Facility outside Memphis Tennessee. Next will be Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas or Camp Joseph T. Robinson.

"Then Fort Chaffee still in Arkansas. After that it will be a problem. If we go north from there it's a long way to Fort Leonard Wood Army Base. But we can go into Oklahoma if need be to reach Camp Gruber followed by Tulsa ANG. From there we have no choice but to head straight for Fort Leonard Wood Army Base.

"There's nothing else between the two unless we add several days to our trip to go to Wichita, Kansas, followed by Kansas City, then Whiteman Air Force Base. We could easily turn this trip from 3 weeks almost 4 weeks to 6. That's it for this itinerary."

"Thanks, Alexis. All right, we still have to work up a couple of alternates based on how things go once we get going. By the time we want to make that last trip and avoid Kansas City we'll have learned how our Strykers are running and handling the trip," Hunt added.

"There are a few problems with this trip." Hunt nodded at Alexis who had pointed them out.

She ran over the main points. "There are certain things that we can't afford to lose. If we want to keep the Strykers, we can't afford to lose the hydrogen trailer or have it fail. If we lose a Stryker we'll have another problem. If we lose the Command and Control trailer then we lose our ability to cook among other things."

"Most of those can be solved if we can reach any of these bases. If we have to we'll take local trucks until we reach one," Hunt quickly stated.

"And our chances of getting there and not losing something along the way?" Kate asked the two of them. Hunt and Alexis remain silent. Kate leaned back in her chair.

"No plan survives interaction with the enemy intact. I've learned the hard way during my job that improvisation is something you have to take, hold on to close, and be ready for. You use your experience to make adjustments," Hunt went on to say to defend the two of them.

Even if it took them 6 weeks Hunt was looking forward to never doing this ever again.


	30. Chapter 30

**Found - 14**

They were all back at the National Guard base the very next morning. "We need to get half of our hydrogen in each Stryker so that we can move them and load them with what we've already gathered. After that we can move them over to the warehouse," Hunt advised.

"And what's in the warehouse?" Kate inquired since he had put her in charge.

"Gas cans for the diesel. In this case, metal ones. Then we can go over to the armory and get those anti-tank missiles," he explained.

"What do we need with an anti-tank gun?" Kate didn't see what possible use it could be. Plus this place was proving to be dangerous.

Hunt shrugged. "We have one, might as well load it. Try not to think of it as shooting tanks. You want to blow a hole in something, use the anti-tank gun. Or we can stop and get some explosives."

"How about neither?" Kate suggested instead.

"You're in charge. Just remember three to possibly six weeks," he reminded her. "Let's see if we can get that hydrogen into our Strykers." Hunt took off for the hydrogen trailer.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"Missile, explosives?" Hunt inquired after they got everything else loaded. "Or just the gas cans?"

Kate thought about it. They were trying to get across the country and mostly only needed to worry about the infecteds. Not fight an army loaded with weapons like tanks. She made her decision. "Just the gas cans. Plus we need to check our trailer to see if they left."

"Command and Control trailer. Right you are," Hunt quickly agreed. They all started walking.

They found both doors still open and everyone looked at Bear who remained quiet. "You're a good boy, Bear." Alexis leaned down to pet him and earn a couple of licks in return. "I trust him," she assured Hunt who hadn't gone inside. So Alexis did with Bear right behind her.

"We need more dogs," Hunt mentioned and smiled as he went inside, followed by everyone else.

He pointed out each area. "Communication gear, sink, convection oven, range top, microwave, table."

"Where's the refrigerator and freezer?" Rick didn't see either of them. "You've got the wrong trailer." He was being contrary mostly because he wasn't a fan of his supposed dad. His mother had been so taken with him that he hadn't yet had a chance to question her again about him.

Hunt simply tapped his foot on the floor. "We're standing on them. This is a Command and Control trailer, not an RV," he countered. "I warned you that they were small. We need to be selective in what goes in them."

"Can we use an RV?" Martha was hopeful now that it had been mentioned.

Alexis shot her down. "Sorry, Grams. Only the military uses hydrogen. Your RV will need diesel. Hundreds of gallons of it."

"Nice try, though, Martha." Kate would kill to be able to use an RV instead of sleeping on the steel floor of a Stryker for the next few weeks. Speaking of which, she clapped her hands to get their attention. "Okay, everyone. Let's power up our Strykers, hook up the trailers, and go get these gas cans. The sooner we get started, the sooner we get there."

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"Warehouse?" Kate looked that thing Hunt had taken them to. "How many soldiers manned this place? Hundreds?" She could just envision them all holed up in the warehouse. They didn't have that much ammunition to get into that big of a fight.

Her shoulders sagging, Kate hung her head in defeat. "Fine, show me this armory so we can arm the Strykers." She was giving in, agreeing to go get Hunt's anti-tank missiles.

Moments later Kate was driving one Stryker while following Hunt. He had Martha in the passenger seat while Alexis and Bear were with her and Castle was in the back.

"This might not be so bad, Kate." Alexis saw where he was taking them and watched as Kate stopped behind his trailer, opened her hatch, and looked around.

What she saw was earth mound, next to earth mount, next to earth mound. Each had what looked like a really strong steel door. "Simple storage." Kate liked it since it meant no one would be inside the things.

But then… "Great, we need explosives just to get inside to get explosives." She looked the door over a little more and didn't like what she saw.

"There were benefits to being Death, Katherine." Hunt opened a concealed panel to show a panel that had numbered keys. She watched him key in a 5 digit code. Followed by listening to the door let go and hearing air being moved. "I've touched a lot of people," he said and pulled the door open to reveal a deep dark corridor.

The sight of it had Kate pulling out her weapon. "Alexis, bring Bear." She hated to do it but she also had trust in Alexis who had trust in Bear. Kate and Hunt watched as Alexis, with Bear at her side, walked right up to the door and Bear didn't react.

"Works for me," Hunt muttered. He walked inside and began looking for something. A moment later they watched as lights came on and lit up the place.

"It has power?" Kate didn't see how that was possible.

"Batteries. We need to get what we want before they die." Hunt went farther inside and began searching.

Kate stopped at the first crate and blew dust off of it. "Semtex?"

"We want that box; pick it up and take it to the Stryker. I'll look for the detonators." Alexis walked past her to look around.

Alexis was still looking when she saw Hunt walk past with a long box over his shoulder. "That box, son," he quickly pointed and went past Rick to go outside.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"We're not going to have room for food and water and fuel at this rate." Kate looked inside one of the Strykers, knowing the other one looked a lot like it on the inside. All she saw was box after box.

"We'll put what's in this box in the anti-tank launcher. These boxes get emptied to load the machine gun on the other Stryker. The Semtex comes out of its box and gets scattered everywhere the detonators aren't. As for the other missile, it stays in its box for later. The other box will get emptied after we use the first missile on the warehouse," Hunt explained.

"Never underestimate fire power and two Strykers **will** have fire power. We just need one last thing and then we can go home." Hunt began opening the box with the missile inside it so he could load it and toss the empty box.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate had thought he'd been kidding about hitting the warehouse with one of their two anti-tank missiles. "It's not even a tank." She was sure he was nuts.

Hunt wasn't paying attention to her. "Pick an end and pray whichever end you choose isn't filled with the jerry cans we need for water and diesel." If they blew them up, they were in trouble.

Kate started to point and changed her mind only to start to point again. _Where would I be if I was a jerry can?_ "The back end." She closed her eyes and didn't watch Hunt go into the Stryker and line it up.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Hunt bellowed and pressed the button.

It was a little noisy and a little smoky. Kate partially opened one eye and watched this glowing ball – she was watching from the back, after all – go almost straight up after going a short distance sort of headed toward the warehouse with just a little wobble. "YOU MISSED!" He wasn't even going to come close. Then as she watched, it turned down and slammed into the back of the warehouse, right in the roof.

The explosion was fantastic; it was loud and threw debris everywhere. There was a Hollywood fireball with bits and pieces flying everywhere. "COOL!" Alexis was impressed.

"Can we blow up the other end next?" Rick loved it just as much, if not more.

Hunt stood up through his hatch. "Let's go find out what we have. Hop in and let's go." The man sat back down and waited.

Two hours later they were ready to leave and Hunt was out in front even though he was following directions from Alexis who was behind him.

"TURN LEFT!" Alexis suddenly yelled when she spotted a sign on the way out.

"That's not the way out," Hunt argued. He knew that much at least.

"I know but the sign said DEPOT on it. I'm thinking fuel depot. If they had to leave here tomorrow there would be somewhere that they would have hydrogen waiting for them to use. That tiny thing we have is likely meant for small deployments or emergencies. I mean, think about it. Two days just for 30 gallons of hydrogen. I don't know how big our tanks are but I'm betting they're a lot bigger than 30 measly gallons." Alexis fought for that left turn.

He considered it and thought she had a point. It would take them weeks to make enough to fill even half the Strykers this place had. "Left turn it is." Hunt turned left and kept his eyes open so he didn't get caught without a way to turn around.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Hunt parked out front while Kate went around toward the back after unhitching the trailer so that they could fill their jerry cans with diesel and water since her Stryker was towing the hydrogen generator.

"We need some of our boxes." Alexis was thinking about how to load the Strykers. "We threw out most of the boxes, which means we go dumpster diving." Alexis turned to look at the bin that was out back and starting to overflow with their trash.

"Those boxes will be wet from the all the rain. We still have boxes of canned goods inside. Start piling those up and taking inventory; I'll start on the jerry cans to be filled with water," Kate said. "You can fill the other ones with diesel, Castle. We'll put water on one side and diesel on the other." Kate followed by Rick went into the Stryker after lowering the back ramp and grabbing a jerry can to be filled.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"There!" Alexis pointed and got Kate to turn the flat bed truck to go that direction. "If they're all full they'll last us weeks." Alexis was happy as she looked at two cages that were filled with 20 pound propane tanks mostly meant for home BBQ grills."Hunt's talking about mounting them on the outside of the Strykers instead of inside them, clearing space inside for other things." She walked up and saw that the stupid thing was locked.

"Bolt cutters, please," Alexis called. Kate opened the passenger door, reached inside and brought them with her, lining them up on the lock that was keeping them from their prize. "It's a pity that Walmarts are little more than concrete boxes. There's a lot inside that we could put to good use." Alexis didn't dare go inside and since they had forced Bear to stay in the cab he wasn't barking.

"What are you thinking?" Kate queried since besides there being canned goods inside or maybe some dry goods, she couldn't think of anything they'd need from there.

"I was thinking what we would do if say our oven dies on us or the range top. We'll have the propane but nothing to cook on." Alexis began to pick up a bottle of propane. "GOD it's heavy!" She switched to two hands and lifted. Kate picked up one with one hand and carried it to the truck. "Show off." Alexis stuck her tongue out at her and she just laughed a little.

"You're thinking camping equipment." Kate kind of liked the idea so long as it wasn't much and didn't take up space. "Have you thought about where you'll be sleeping?" she asked her since both Strykers only had two pull down beds that were little more than basic cots.

"I was thinking of moving my mattress and putting it on top of the jerry cans. Bear can have one half and hopefully leave me the other half." Hearing his name, Bear barked. Then Alexis reached in to pet him.

"I'll trade you," Kate offered, thinking that Alexis was going to be the most comfortable of the three of them.

"No thanks, I'm not lifting Bear up that high. Besides he'll fall out." Alexis hid her smile when she spotted Kate staring at her with a shocked face. Alexis had done her best to sound serious.

Kate was still staring at her after loading two more propane tanks.

"Let's go home. We can look for your camping supplies tomorrow." Kate climbed into the cab and headed off.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Alexis dragged her mattress across the floor, out through the door, then dropped it, listening to it thud and echo off the walls in the truck bay. "Good boy!" She took her pillow out of Bear's mouth and dropped it on her mattress. "Come on, boy let's go back to bed." She lay down onto her mattress and waited for Bear to find his spot.

"It's a lot quieter in here, huh, Bear?" Alexis ruffled his fur and tried to go back to sleep. She turned over and tried to go back to sleep, then shifted her position and turned over again, still trying to go back to sleep. "UHH!" She gave up and got up to look out the windows of the front roll up doors. Out there she saw both Strykers hooked up to their trailers just waiting for tomorrow.

They had spent the last few days filling it with everything they could think of, save for Alexis's mattress. Hunt had even raided the ambulance and moved a number of equipment cases out to one of the Strykers. He had moved the cylinder of oxygen along with the mask and a spare one, too.

Moving to the other doors all she saw were the two trailers they had dropped there. She knew both of them were a lot emptier now then back when they had gotten them.

She suddenly realized one of the reasons she was so restless. She was leaving home tomorrow and never coming back. At least not until she was a lot older if they were lucky. "Back to bed, Bear." She had to get at least some sleep.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Rick rolled over and found himself back to facing Kate whose eyes were open and staring at him. "Come here, babe." She reached out and drew him into her. Kate wasn't in the mood and for a moment thought about trying to get Rick aroused so that he would make love to her. Maybe even eat her pussy so that she would have a reason to scream.

"How long has it been?" Rick questioned her softly.

Kate could see the alarm clock. "Ten minutes after the last time you asked."

No, she couldn't get to sleep either, however, she was smiling inside. She had watched Martha almost never not touch or hold Hunt since he'd arrived. She had heard about Martha and her escapades with the countless men she had chased over the years.

"How long has it been now?" Rick asked and it earned him a poke to his kidney.

"Stop, Castle. Your mother has been reintroduced to the man she loves more than any other. The man that got her _you._ So either put a pillow over your ears or go sleep out in one of the Strykers. All three are still out there somewhere."

"And now?" Rick asked again. She actually looked and sighed. It was only 10 minutes later.

"Grab your mattress and pillow and follow me and my mattress out to the truck bay." Kate rolled away and worked at getting her mattress off the box spring and started dragging it out to the truck bay.

As soon as she opened the door she was presented with a surprise. "Bear and I left you guys some space." Alexis pointed to a bare section.

Kate shook her head. She let her mattress drop to the floor and then helped Castle move his close to hers. After which she climbed into bed and waited for him.

"I'm glad Mother's happy, but really?" Rick grumbled a little even if he was happy for her.

Alexis ribbed him with her own little jab. "Now you know how I feel, Dad. Who knew Grams could be so vocal? Sounds a lot like someone I know." Alexis grinned at her jab at Kate.

"You can go out to the Stryker, you know. There are still weapons out here. I can cover you while you move." Kate would hit Alexis with something if she had anything. She wasn't throwing her only pillow.

Suddenly Bear barked. "Bear, shush." Alexis grabbed him and hugged him. He didn't bark again but he did growl.

They heard something hit the roll up door that led to the generator; all three of them sat up to look.

Kate looked at where the only weapon still out there was located along with a pair of spare clips. She would get up and get it if she had to.

They all heard the door rattle again. Kate got up slowly to retrieve the weapon. What she really want to do was go look. But she knew if she was seen they would attack. She was pretty sure that they could get through the roll up door if they wanted to.

She turned to look at the only door leading out into the truck bay. She couldn't believe that they hadn't reinforced that door after all this time. They hadn't even added a way to lock it save for the dead bolt.

"Bear." He had growled just a little louder.

Kate's legs were starting to ache after crouching for so long. She crawled back over to her bed next to Rick. Then suddenly there was a sound at the roll up door on the other end.

The repeated sounds had Bear getting up even though Alexis got up with him and hugged him. Bear just kept growling. It also had Kate spinning to point her weapon that way.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Martha was wrapping a towel around her body just as Kate entered the same bathroom. "OH! Sorry, Martha." Kate started to back out.

"No, I'm done, Katherine, you can have the room. I slept like the dead last night. I haven't felt this good in a long time," Martha proclaimed on her way out.

Kate closed the door and looked into the mirror. The woman who looked back at her looked like she hadn't slept a minute last night. "You're welcome, Martha." She stepped into the shower and poured part of the bucket of water over herself. "SHIT, THAT'S COLD!"

A much more awake but still very tired Kate stepped out of the bathroom for the last time with a towel wrapped around her and headed for their room to get dressed in the clothes that she'd set aside earlier.

Alexis found her at the front door. "Headset, Kate."

Kate touched her head. "DAMN IT!" And retreated back inside.

Alexis watched out front and saw Hunt and her Grams hugging and talking.

Alexis pressed a hand over her mouth to hide her wide yawn. "You and me both." Kate yawned widely but didn't try to hide it. She was too tired to care. "We may have to trade off driving today," she warned her. "Where's Castle?" She hadn't seen him.

"I haven't seen Dad yet. Just those two." Alexis gestured toward Hunt and her grandmother who were still hugging and talking.

"I'll find Castle then we can go." Kate headed back inside and found him in one of the spare rooms that still had a mattress in it.

"Castle," she said. " **CASTLE!** " As expected he didn't move. Kate kicked him in the leg which got him to wake up. "Get up, we're leaving."

"Can't we leave tomorrow?" Rick muttered and just rolled over.

Kate kicked him again. "Get up or I swear I'll leave you here. It'll be just you and the infecteds." She left, not waiting to see if he got up.

"Where's Dad?" Alexis inquired when Kate came back.

"Still sleeping. Let's get started. The sooner we leave the sooner we get there." She looked outside. "And those two are still at it." Kate saw them kissing and rolled her eyes.

"I would be more happy for Grams if I wasn't so tired. …Bye, Dad," Alexis called over her shoulder and went outside.

Alexis checked the hydrogen generator and made sure that it was still running then poured in a little more diesel and water just in case. After that she climbed up onto the Stryker and climbed down into the passenger seat.

Kate fired up their Stryker and checked in with Hunt and Martha. "Ready?" she asked and looked at Alexis who turned to look at Bear. He was in the back laying on her bed that was on top of a number of jerry cans.

"Does this thing have a horn? If not close the door and let's go," Alexis said, wondering if Kate would stop when she saw her dad running after them.

Kate reached for the back door switch. "I'm coming, I'm coming," Rick yelled as he rushed into the back of the Stryker. He saw Bear just looking at him from HIS bed.

"Nice of you to join us," Alexis told him as Kate hit the switch and closed the back door; she informed Hunt that they were leaving. Alexis picking up her binder of maps and the data she had about each stop along the way. It included a few side locations in case they had to go that way for some reason.

"Leave Bear alone, Dad. He was up all night last night." Bear was softly growling as Rick tried to get him to share the mattress.

Rick sat down on the metal floor. "So was I," he groaned and reached for a pillow so he could at least lay down a little.


	31. Chapter 31

**Found - 15**

It had taken them just over 6 hours to reach Camp Blanding, FL. They had driven through the site and had stayed off of the Interstates. They worried that with Florida only having two, being Interstates 95 and 75, that they would be crowded with abandoned cars and trucks.

Instead they used Route 429 then Route 19. They stopped for the night just north of Camp Blanding in a little town called Lantey at State Route 301 and Route 225. "This place looks quiet." Kate was liking it so far. "Any trouble while I slept?" She felt bad about that but she just couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.

"No problem, what few cars or trucks there were, were easy to move off the road." Alexis hadn't had any trouble.

"Let's find out what's for dinner." Kate started to climb out followed by Alexis. Rick had pressed the button to lower the ramp, allowing Bear to run out past him to find the first tree he could find and lift his leg.

"Come on, Bear, food," Alexis called to him and everyone went into the Command and Control trailer.

"Be careful, Castle. Our food needs to last four weeks and maybe six," Kate cautioned as he took meat out of the refrigerator. Her warning had him putting over half of it back.

While the meat cooked he prepared the bread machine for tomorrow since they had used it to make bread for today. A little bit of meat, pasta, and bread was dinner. To save water, the leftover water was put through a filter to be used for something else later.

Alexis listened to Hunt on how to use the communication gear and then input the codes Jarod had given them. "SSBN 826, this is Alexis." All she had was audio for now until they answered.

"Alexis, this is SSBN 826. How are you doing? The captain isn't available. He and most of the crew are on base trying to find what we need," Jarod replied, working at getting video for both of them.

"Alexis!" He was glad to see her. "Where are you now?" He knew they were leaving today.

"Just north of Camp Blanding. It took us almost 6 hours to get here. Google suggested 2-1/2 hours and it took us 6. We've just finished dinner and it's getting dark." Alexis looked out one of the tiny windows they had.

"I'll advise the captain of the time it took you so he can plan accordingly." Jarod hurriedly scribbled a note about it.

"How big is your crew?" Alexis asked, wondering how many people they had to account for.

"One hundred fifty-five," Jarod replied.

"OH MY GOD!" Alexis couldn't begin to figure out how they were going to get that many people to where they were going. "Our Strykers only hold two people and supplies." How many vehicles were they going to need?

"Thankfully that's the captain's problem," Jarod said. "How were the roads? Any infecteds?" He needed all the information he could get.

"We stayed off the Interstates and used county and state roads. The number of abandoned cars has been small, thankfully, and no infecteds so far, but it's only just getting dark so we'll see." Alexis saw Hunt slashing his throat since he wanted out of the trailer and back into the Strykers for the night.

"I have to go, I'll call tomorrow." Alexis waved, killed the transmission, and shut it all down. After that they abandoned the trailer and retreated back to their Strykers.

"Be it ever so metal there's no place like home." Kate pulled down one of the cots and tried to figure out how to climb in. Then she started to strip and ended up in her bra and panties while Rick went down to his boxers. Alexis did what Kate did and slid into her bed and watched Bear spin and spin before finding his space on her mattress.

Alexis quickly started putting her clothes back on. "What are you doing?" Kate questioned just as she lay down.

"I want to check the hydrogen generator and make sure it's still running. I forgot to look when we went past it," Alexis responded.

Kate didn't want her outside after dark. "The diesel generator was running. What more do you need to know?"

Alexis began taking her clothes back off. "Nothing that can't wait. We need to empty the tank tomorrow into both Strykers."

Breakfast after using a tree or bush along with Bear doing his business, was biscuits and gravy.

They had to pull forward until Hunt could pull along side for the hose to reach him as Alexis gave him half and then their Stryker the other half and then filled it back up with water and diesel. "Forty-eight hours before we have more so where we stop next is where we will be staying for a few days," Alexis cautioned all of them.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

It was almost another six hours into the next day when Alexis starts to drive into this tiny town on US Route 84. "DuPont? Like the chemical company?" Alexis asked as Kate slowed down since there were a few cars scattered about.

"There's a Quick Stop," Alexis pointed. "Is there anything we need?" she inquired, looking at Kate.

Kate activated her communication headset. "We're coming up on a small convenience mart. Is there anything we need?" Kate couldn't think of anything.

"Nothing comes to mind," Hunt responded.

"If there is we're going to be here for at least four days so we can put 30 gallons of hydrogen into each Stryker," Alexis warned all of them.

"Find what looks like a safe place to park and we'll stay. Maybe go hunting to extend our meat," Hunt suggested.

"Will do." Kate drove past the Quick Stopand didn't see much else in this town.

"Post Office." Alexis indicated to her right.

"We've got rail lines on our left. For such a small place it doesn't look bad." So far everything had been mostly been housing and scattered at that.

Alexis read the small sign. "Suwanoochee Creek." Kate stopped on the bridge. It was long enough that they could stack three of them with trailers back to back so Kate stopped right in the middle.

"Park next to us, Hunt," Kate said and saw him slowly slide in next to them, taking up most of the bridge from side to side. "It looks like the safest place around here."

"We can get water from the creek for the hydrogen generator and not use ours." Alexis liked it.

Kate hit the button to open the back to let Rick and Bear out. Bear went over to the edge and looked down and then lifted his leg. Then he wandered back the way they had come a little and squatted. "Good thing about never coming back here, I don't have to pick up after him." Alexis let him do his thing. He had used concrete in the truck bay all his life so far, so using the bridge was no big deal to him.

"We've got about an hour until it's dark." Kate looked around and closed the back door again.

She watched Rick and Hunt walk over to the edge of the bridge and start to pee over the side.

"This way, ladies." Kate moved to the end of the bridge to find a spot for her and them.

"Men have it easy," Martha grumbled and went back into her Stryker to get toilet paper.

"I'd kill for a porta-pottie." Martha walked past Kate and Alexis.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

It had been two days so far and Alexis was dragging her hose to empty 30 gallons of hydrogen into their Stryker. Two days later and she would do Hunt and Martha's Stryker.

"You want to see if we can get lucky?" Hunt hefted one of Kate's AR-15s that she had gotten from that sheriff's office. It was 9:00 am and they had all day.

"Sure." Kate went into their Stryker and came back out with an AR-15. She ejected her clip to check it and slapped it back in.

"You want to call your boyfriend, Alexis?" Kate teased and got daggers back in the extreme.

Still Alexis went into the trailer to fire everything up. "SSBN 826, this is Alexis. Are you online?" She saw Jarod's face pop up on her screen.

"This is SSBN 826. Hi, Alexis, how are you doing? Where are you?" He was happy to see her even if he was getting ribbed for having a girlfriend.

"We've been parked on a bridge on State Route 84 just outside of a tiny town called DuPont for two days now. We've got another two days to go to generate another 30 gallons of hydrogen. After that we'll move on a little ways."

"Well our two days have been busy. Our two teams have gone through so much ammunition. This place is crawling with infecteds. The captain has the same two teams out on a hunt and destroy mission.

"We've got a third team gathering up all the canned goods they can find. We're eating more now even if it is a bit limited. Our cook is trying at least so it's not bad." Jarod would kill for a steak, though.

"We've got two out hunting, they might get lucky," Alexis commiserated.

"Venison, nice. Care to share with the rest of us?" Jarod teased. She smiled back at him.

"Any idea how you're all going to get to Fort Leonard Wood Army Base?" There were 155 of them versus their five.

"It's an Army base; this place is packed with vehicles. Problem is it's going to take time to gather it all together and get provisions and be ready to move out. The captain isn't saying but we're betting weeks." There was actually a pool betting on which day they'd leave.

Alexis thought about it. One hundred fifty-five people, food, water, diesel even if it was bad, propane. "Put me down for a hundred on three weeks and two days." Jarod began laughing.

He wrote it down. "Done. Stay safe out there. Talk to you in two days." Jarod waved and ended the communication.

Alexis felt better for a reason she couldn't put her finger on. She shut it all down. "Come on, boy, let's go look around while we still have the light." She left the trailer and started walking into town.

"Mother?" Rick found her lying on a mattress in the back of her and Hunt's Stryker.

"Richard." Martha didn't move any. "What's on your mind, kiddo?"

"Hunt."

"I knew he was different the second I saw him. I always wondered what happened to him and never thought I was going to see him again. I never really thought that he had died." That wasn't one of the things Martha had considered. She'd thought it was just a one time thing and that was what he had wanted.

"Do you trust him not to go back to what he was?" Rick questioned.

"Go back to a CIA that doesn't even exist anymore?" Martha didn't see his question as having any meaning.

"He's a killer, Mother." Rick saw Hunt's job as being killing people for a living.

"You hate him that much?" Martha could hear it in his words.

"I don't hate him, Mother. I just…" Rick had to think about it. "I don't even know him and neither do you. Why should I trust him; why do **you** trust him?"

Martha sat up and thought about it. "I loved him that day we met. No, I didn't know what he did for a living and I didn't care. He was handsome, articulate, clearly well-educated, and he didn't strike me as being either a hermit or someone who couldn't stay in one place. I still don't care.

"Give him a chance, Richard. He's your father. I know you grew up without one and have gotten use to it, but you have one now. You don't have to love him like a son, but would it kill you to not hate him? What has he done so wrong since he arrived for you to act like this?" Martha had every intention of defending Hunt against her own son.

 _He_ _'_ _s alive_ was what Rick wanted to say. "I'll try for you, Mother," he said, knowing that Hunt was going to have to be amazing for him to even think about liking him.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

They left two days later and bypassed Moody Air Force Base since they didn't need anything.

They were doing fine until Kate pointed out that she was down to less than a quarter tank of hydrogen. "We may need to stop soon."

Alexis checked her binder to see where they were and where they were trying to get to. "We're on Route 133 and this will take us to just south of Albany, Georgia." She looked at her notes. "Albany had a population of 77,000, give or take."

Kate thought about it. "Can we bypass it and stick to small towns like the one we left not long ago?" Big towns sounded like trouble to her.

Alexis looked at her binder again. "If we skip the Marine Corps Logistics Base. The next one is Fort Benning just outside Columbia, Georgia. It had a population of 150,000 roughly."

Kate hated that town even more since it was larger still. "What are our options?" Did they even have any?

"We can go mostly west to Fort Rucker in Alabama. After that will be Maxwell Air Force Base just outside of Montgomery, Alabama. An estimated population of 6,000." Alexis looked at Kate.

"Much better, maybe we can stop a little farther outside."

"After that will be Anniston Army Depot a little east of Birmingham, Alabama. Population of 220,000. Anniston Army Depot is about 54 miles east of Birmingham," Alexis told her.

"Plot it, I like it." It wasn't what Hunt had planned but she liked it and she was in charge.

They were forced to stop in a tiny town called Damascus in Georgia. Kate stopped right in the middle of an intersection just past a railroad track. At the corner of Damascus Highway and Railroad Ave. It was nice and wide open with barely a building anywhere close and only one lone tree. The biggest building that was close was a pair of silos just off of the railroad track behind them.

"Four days will put us at half full for each Stryker," Alexis informed them. "Do we stay longer? Another four days will get us just short of 3/4 full for both."

Kate and the rest looked around. "A week out here in the middle of nowhere. While I like nowhere meaning the infecteds will be small in number…what's important is how are our supplies?"

"We've used up what was in the refrigerator and are starting to touch what's in the freezer. Mostly ground beef and ground turkey. We're eating straight from the can. Vegetables, beans, Chinese, chili. We've still got a lot of pasta, just not a lot to put on it. Spam, tuna, oh, and the MREs that Hunt found for us." Rick made a face like he was sick or would be if he ate one of those.

"When it's all you've got, son, you learn to love them. It beats what they were in World War II." Hunt defended them since he actually liked some of them. "Plus each has a dessert inside it along with other things."

"Ice cream?" Rick queried, knowing full well that they didn't.

"Plan it out where we skip Maxwell Air Force Base and get us closer to Anniston Army Depot," Kate told Alexis.

"Four days it is then. Followed by at least eight if not longer before we can reach Anniston Army Depot that will be after another four day stop." Alexis advised them.

"Deal." Kate liked it. "Castle, start making dinner, please. The rest of us will look around and see what's here." Kate doubted there was anything but if you didn't look you didn't know.

"Come on, Bear." Alexis began walking toward the railroad tracks.

"WEAPONS EVERYONE!" Kate yelled to remind everyone and saw Alexis raise hers before putting it back in her holster. Martha was with Hunt and assumed he could protect her. Kate walked toward the silos to take a look.

Alexis had barely started to reach what looked like a set of old businesses that were long since gone since the building looked abandoned when Bear started barking.

It had Alexis pulling her weapon out and Kate running her direction. "Looks like we're not alone here," Alexis said.

Kate used her headset, "Hunt, a little help over here," and very shortly saw Hunt and Martha jogging their way. Silently Kate pointed while Bear kept barking.

"I'd like to save our last missile for later. The same for the Semtex." The building wasn't that big. He did, however, see windows on the front of each store. They hadn't even bothered to board the place up. They'd just abandoned it.

"Grenades, maybe. One or two per window," Hunt suggested. "We've still got an hour until sunset. We need to clean this building out while we can." Hunt started throwing any brick or larger rock that he could find through the windows to make it easier for them.

Moments later Martha was locked up in her Stryker along with Bear while Rick cooked. They met in the middle out in the street. "I'll take left, you two take right. Two grenades per window. Pull the pin, throw them as hard as you can, and run to the next window. And the next and then keep running," Hunt advised.

He readied a grenade and waited. "One, …two, …three." Hunt pulled the pin and threw as did Kate and Alexis and all three began running. They were soon moving flat out when the first grenades exploded.

They had each thrown five in total with five of the windows getting two grenades, thanks to Kate and Alexis. They stopped running to turn and look and watched as glass was blown out into the street.

Hunt went up to the first building and started running toward Kate and Alexis and threw his last five grenades into his five windows and ran until he joined Kate and Alexis.

"I'll get Bear." If he didn't bark then it was safe.

"What was that noise?" Rick was at the door of the trailer as Alexis passed by on her way to get Bear out of the Stryker.

"Infecteds, Dad, just some dead infecteds." At least Alexis hoped they were.

The only drawback to this plan was that they'd just used up all of their grenades. It left them with some Semtex, an anti-tank missile, and the .50 Cal. Plus their hand weapons and they weren't even halfway there yet.


	32. Chapter 32

**Found – 16**

 _It has been five days since leaving the fire station in Disney World_

"Hunt, we have a problem." Kate used her headset as she stopped and popped her Stryker's top to stand up and get a good look. "Make that a big problem. We're approaching a Walmart and there are abandoned cars and some first responders scattered all over. They're blocking the road. I don't think your anti-tank gun is going to help us here."

"Can we go off-road?" Hunt asked before popping his top and standing up. "Never mind." He saw nothing but trees. "Are you able to turn around? I think I saw a road headed north behind us."

Kate turned to see. "Possibly. …Can you?" He was behind her, after all.

He looked around. "Maybe."

"I think I can use the entrance to this steakhouse to help me. You can do the same after I turn around," Kate proposed.

Moments later she was turning left onto a road called Swindell Road. "Swindell, seriously?" Alexis wasn't amused. "At least this road is clear." She started looking at her maps. "Stay on this road until you turn left onto Elm Street. Look for Barron Road and then turn right," she directed. Kate did what she was told.

Barron Road was a little tight and clearly a residential street which was a dead end. "Turn left," Alexis instructed. "This is Route 32; it will take us to US 29. With a few more turns we can reach US 231. It will take us around Troy, Alabama. Then Birmingham ANGB." She glanced at Kate. "How we doing on fuel?"

"I've got a quarter tank. This is going to take a lot longer than we thought." Kate was a little concerned. Their supplies revolved around a 4 week trip. This was looking a lot more like 6 and that was if they didn't go to Kansas City.

"There's nothing between us and Montgomery, Alabama. Nothing that will have supplies." Alexis closed her binder. "Stop where you want." They were going to be wherever that was for at least four days. "Unless we stop in Troy," Alexis warned.

"Keep your eyes open then. Maybe we can find some canned food," Kate said.

"Troy Police Dept." Alexis pointed to the left knowing they didn't need anything they had.

"Troy Bank and Trust. We could rob a bank." She smiled at Kate, knowing she wouldn't go for it. Kate kept driving. "I thought not."

"There on the right – Ingram Curb Market," Alexis gestured. "We can try there."

Kate stayed on the road but came to a stop. "We're going to do a little shopping, Hunt, if you care to join us." She shut down the Stryker and popped her top to climb out.

Kate, Alexis, Rick, and Bear were standing in front of the store. "We're after canned goods, all we can find. Alexis, you and Bear are first, I'll be right behind you. Except for the doors, there's not a lot of glass." Then Kate laid down the law. "If Bear barks, we leave."

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"That was a productive hour." Kate was happy and Rick, well he was a little unhappy since all of the cans went into their Stryker, taking away some of his space.

"Tory Municipal Airport," Alexis said, pointing at a sign while sounding excited. "If we park on the runway we'll see what's coming for miles around us." She thought it was an excellent idea.

"Works for me." Kate turned and then ran through a chain-link gate to get out onto the tarmac and runway. She parked right in the middle of two runways, popped her top, and got out. "I'm guessing those buildings are the ticket and boarding area. Those buildings might be maintenance."

Rick began shaking his head. "No hangers to do maintenance in. But I have a question."

Kate asked his question before he could. "Where are the planes? If it happened as fast as we think why are they missing?"

"Panic," Hunt suggested. "When people panic they do some of the craziest, stupidest things. Even people who can't fly a plane will try. They used a flight simulator on a computer and suddenly they're pilots."

Kate questioned all of them. "Does this place have anything we might need?"

"We have better communications than they do, we don't need aviation fuel, and we just raided a market so we don't need food." Hunt had nothing.

"If we find another stream or river we can add water for the hydrogen generator. Bottled water maybe?" Alexis queried. "Supplement our jerry cans, a few of which are already empty."

"Sunset is in 2 hours. We can take a quick peek while Castle cooks," Kate said. "Just long enough for Bear to bark or not." They had long since learned that Bear was their ace in the hole.

"You're my good boy, Bear." Alexis leaned down to pet him and kiss his head. In turn she had her chin licked until she moved out of range.

The buildings to their right were chosen first. They would get the others later. "Pike Aviation." Kate saw the big letters on the building. "Likely nothing we need is inside." They didn't even get all that close before Bear started barking.

"So much for our luck." Kate had had hopes but Bear busted those. "Let's eat and get back in our Strykers."

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Alexis was petting Bear while they did their best to share her mattress. "What do you think we're going to find?" Alexis asked, trying to think into their future.

"The other buildings? The same as those buildings," Kate answered.

"No, I mean the base we're trying to reach. What do you think is there?" Alexis couldn't really picture it.

"An army base. Lots of military." Kate couldn't think of much else.

"Hunt said something about a wall. Come out and get us to take us behind their wall. Which reminds me – we should try and contact them tomorrow, let them know where we are." Alexis hadn't tried to talk to them yet. Since they weren't really close it didn't much matter.

"It's Missouri, what can there be in Missouri?" Kate had never been there and had no real interest before in going there.

"The St. Louis Arch, Branson, Silver Dollar City, the home of Mark Twain, the Harry S. Truman Library." Rick rattled off a list of places, not sure any of them were worth driving all this way just to see.

"How long do we stay here?" Kate inquired.

"Eight days to get us just over half a tank each. …I may have underestimated how long this is going to take," Alexis replied with an apologetic look.

"We're still alive, that's all that matters. Going to get a little boring sitting out here on a runway for eight days." Kate closed her eyes and tried to get to sleep. She smiled with her eyes still shut. "You're going to drive all of us crazy, aren't you, Castle?"

"I'll do my best." Rick smiled sleepily before his eyes drifted closed.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Alexis was sitting at the communications system in the trailer two days later. "SSBN 826, this is Alexis, are you online?"

"Alexis, this is SSBN 826. How are you doing?" Jarod was happy to see her though she looked a little worse for wear.

"We're in the middle of the Troy Municipal Airport. We have been for two days and my dad's driving us all crazy. There's literally nothing around us and his ability to sit still and do nothing is an impossibility." Alexis loved him but he could be a challenge some days.

Jarod just smiled and chuckled lightly. "The captain thinks he's cleared the place out and is starting to gather what we need. We lost someone, though. I'm told he got some blood on him and he shot himself before he could change. Myself, I'm glued to all this gear." Jarod was starting to go crazy.

"If you can, find a dog. We have Bear and he barks at all the infecteds. He's a great early warning system. A real guard dog." Alexis glanced over at him lying on the floor.

"That reminds me, some of the infecteds have been dogs," Jarod told her.

"NO!" She looked at Bear again, afraid for him.

"Yeah, fast and vicious so watch yourself. …Hm, Troy huh?" Jarod worked at finding it.

"Wow, it's been what 2 weeks more or less and you're only to Troy? I need to tell the captain. He needs to plan for a longer trip." Jarod was beginning to get worried.

"We can only make 30 gallons of hydrogen every 48 hours so it's slowing us down. I thought this might take us 3 to 4 weeks. Now I'm thinking at least 6 weeks if not longer. We even raided a small convenience mart to add to our food. We're going to use up our frozen meat long before we get there." Alexis started to think about what they could do about that.

"You be careful, Alexis. Talk to you in a few days." Jarod waved and ended the communication.

"You stay away from the infected, Bear." Alexis waggled her finger at him which got him up and going over to her to get petted.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

 _It is now six days later and they are on US Route 31 headed north toward Maxwell Air Force Base._

"Koch Foods," Alexis remarked and while more food would be nice, it looked more like a distribution warehouse, meaning no windows and full of infecteds.

"Stockyard Grill," she also mentioned, not that it looked inviting.

Kate's mouth began to water. "What I wouldn't give for a steak about now." She watched briefly as it went by, continuing to drive.

"We must be getting close. Based on where we crossed Interstate 65 a little while back, this could be bad." Alexis wondered why it wasn't already.

"They were trying to get out, not get in," Kate observed, thinking about the time she'd spent pushing cars out of the way at the interchange.

Alexis checked the map. "Left turn, Air Base Boulevard."

The turn made, Alexis waved to her right and said, "Texaco, full of useless gas by now."

Kate stopped at what Alexis said was Day Street. "That's a gate leading into the base." Alexis indicated a small building that had a fence on both sides and a bar blocking entrance. "We don't really need to go on base unless you want to. Otherwise turn left."

"Hunt, any reason to go onto the base itself that you know of?" Kate used her headset to ask him.

"Nothing I can think of. It wouldn't hurt if we found more food so keep your eyes open for that," he replied.

"Some wine wouldn't hurt," Martha added since they had none.

"Or beer." Hunt was willing to indulge a little.

"We're coming up on a wide river," Alexis warned Kate and watched as she continued out onto the bridge.

Kate was thinking of stopping on it. "What time is it?"

"Four hours until sunset."

"So we move on."

"It's Crazy Bill's Fireworks," Alexis chortled.

Rick spoke up for the first time in a while from his place in the back. "Can we?"

Kate slowed down to at least take a look. She shook her head. "Sorry but there are no windows at all, Castle." She sped back up.

"Straight but be ready to get off this road. We're going to start getting close to Interstate 65 in a little while," Alexis warned, given that so far the Interstates had all looked bad.

"Why do I need to worry?" Were they that close?

"Route 31 will start paralleling the Interstate eventually." Kate understood now. People would be getting off to use this road if they could. Meaning there could be a mess up ahead.

Alexis pointed to her left. "There's a hospital."

"We haven't touched the cases we got out of the ambulance yet. Nothing there we need. Besides if we're right, that place will be crawling with infecteds." People who thought they were just sick would have gone there or been taken there.

"The intersection with Interstate 65 is just ahead. It might be bad," Alexis cautioned.

Kate stopped. "Alternative?" Kate was betting it was bad, too.

"Turn right just past the CITGO station and stay on that road for a while," Alexis directed. "It will eventually meet up with US Route 31 again later on."

"Right it is." Kate made the turn.

"Wow!" Alexis saw nothing but cars on the Interstate as they passed under it.

"We need a place to stop soon and all I see are trees on one side and farmland on the other. We've got an hour until sunset. How long do we stay this time?" Kate slowed down to look.

"Four days. There, turn right. That house is all alone. If it's infected we can clean it out easy enough, hopefully."

Kate followed the blacktop that looked like a loop drive that went back out to the road and stopped just past the front door. She shutdown and popped the top to take a better look. "Nice house." The garage was on the end that she had already passed. It was a single level house.

Alexis popped the top on her side and looked. "My money says there's a pool out back…that I wouldn't swim in for all the tea in China."

Rick pressed the button and watched Bear run for the first bush and lift his leg.

"Dinner, Castle?" Kate asked.

"It has beds." Rick looked at the house longingly since he was sleeping on a cot.

"It also isn't safe. Even if there are no infecteds inside, there's no way to keep them out. You'll either be dead or infected before the sun comes up," Kate reminded him.

"Your logic is annoying." Rick headed for the Command and Control trailer to start dinner.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Alexis had finished feeding Bear who was eating like he was never going to be fed again. "We need to find more dog food soon, too. I didn't bring enough for 6 weeks." She threw the empty bag outside and saw a very full Bear run out the door and poop on the blacktop. "I'm not picking that up, either." She went back inside to find something to drink before walking to the Command and Control trailer.

She fired up the communications system. "SSBN 826, this is Alexis, are you online?"

"SSBN 826, how are you, Alexis?" Jarod responded instantly.

"Do you ever get a day off?" she queried since he always answered when she called.

"I'm lucky. How are you doing and where are you now?" He had been keeping a log of how far they traveled each day as best he could based on when she called.

"We're in the middle of nowhere just outside of a house some miles south of Birmingham, Alabama. We're trying to reach Anniston Army Depot."

"If that base is anything like our base I would stay as far away from there as you can," Jarod advised. They had lost a man and had used up over half of the ammunition they had or found clearing the place out.

"We don't have much choice. We just replaced our second tire on the hydrogen generator trailer. If we want to keep it – and we can't afford to lose it – we need more tires. This place will likely have just what we need."

"Just be safe, Alexis. That place will be dangerous." He wanted to tell her to not go but he couldn't.

"How are you doing? How is my bet doing?" Alexis smiled.

Jarod chuckled. "You've still got about a week left and you might be close. The captain is pulling a lot of things out of this place. You should see a couple of them. They're big boxes on a flat bed trailer being pulled by a big truck." He didn't think they could take those, they were just too big.

Alexis started snapping her fingers and worked at getting it off her tongue. "Hydrogen generators! Our little unit only makes 30 gallons every 48 hours or so. Those will make several times that every day. You don't even need diesel to make them work. You use the hydrogen you just generated to power it to make more. It was too big for us so I didn't say anything about them. How many do you have?" She was starting to think they might make it.

"Three actually. He's even found water tanks being towed by another truck. Only problem is–" Alexis interrupted him.

"Let me guess, everything's running on empty." Their Strykers were empty so they should be as well.

"Yeah, how did you know? You should be here, we could use you." Jarod would love to have her close.

"Meet you there. Talk to you later." Alexis waved at him and cut the communication. "I forgot to ask if they had found a dog. What do you think, boy? Are there more than one of you?" Alexis asked Bear who barked at her. "Let's hope so." She petted him and went outside to join the others.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Bear had declared the house empty and they had stripped it of everything they thought they needed, mostly canned food and dry goods. They had even taken some soap, shampoo, and towels. And the wife had had some skin lotion that Kate, Alexis, and Martha had helped themselves to.

They were back on the road and it was almost lunch when Hunt stopped them. "We need to stop, I think. Something feels wrong." Kate came to a halt and waited. Moments later Hunt said, "I could use a little help. We've got a flat on the Stryker."

Kate groaned. Changing the tires on the hydrogen generator had been hard enough. She really wasn't looking forward to changing one on a Stryker. They had what they needed but she was pretty sure it was buried under their supplies.

It took an hour to get to what they needed, another hour to change the tire and dump the flat on the side of the road, and an hour to put it all away again.

"Now we're a mess." Kate looked at herself, Hunt, and Rick. She checked her watch. "Three o'clock. It'll be dark in about three hours. We need a better place to stop. We can clean up while Castle cooks." She trudged back to her Stryker, climbed in, and continued down the road.

"I'm not finding any place I like. It's nothing but trees." Worse, they were all close to the road.

Alexis checked her binder and saw a big open area. "Keep going, there's something on our right coming up soon. I just don't know how we're going to reach it."

"There! But I don't see a road." Alexis popped her top and stood up. "Nothing but trees. Go straight. Slow…slow. Drift left; I think I see a gravel road on the right. It's tight. Stop here and open the back to let Bear out." Alexis climbed out and with Bear by her side, ran down the gravel road.

"Why are we waiting here?" Hunt had heard everything, but he didn't have the map that Alexis had.

"Alexis is looking to make sure we don't get trapped," Kate answered.

Moments later Alexis was running back. "THIS WAY, TAKE IT SLOW!" she yelled at Kate and Hunt.

Kate saw a wide space open up and went straight slowly before turning right and stopping as Hunt pulled up next to her. "We're running late. Two days here then we move on to the army base," she decided and went to the Command and Control trailer along with all the others.

"What is this place?" Kate asked Alexis while watching Rick cook.

"I don't know, it's not on my map. It's just a picture. Salt maybe, sand maybe. We should reach the army base in three or four hours, I think. It's not far. We need to be fast, though. Based on what Jarod was telling me, their base was filled with infecteds." Alexis was betting this base would be just as loaded with them.


	33. Chapter 33

**Found - 17**

 _It has been 2 weeks and 3 days since leaving Disney_

Kate turned onto Victory Drive and drove toward the gate house that wasn't manned and was easy to get past. Then Victory Drive turned into MacArthur Drive. She stopped at the first intersection. "We have maybe 5 hours before we leave to find a place to stay." Her first problem was deciding which direction.

"Go straight," Alexis suggested and soon Kate was driving on a bridge over a railroad line. The road split just after that so Kate stopped at it and popped her top to stand up.

"OH…MY…GOD!" They were in big, big trouble. The building in front of them was massive. It made the warehouse they had used an anti-tank missile on look like a dollhouse. Then Kate looked left and feared there was one just like it hiding behind a wall of trees.

Alexis popped her top and stood up as Hunt pulled up next to them, stopped, and popped his top as did Martha. "Any guesses?" Kate didn't have a clue.

"You got a picture of this place?" Hunt asked Alexis who climbed down and handed him her binder with it open.

Hunt studied it for a little while. "These buildings are administration and other things. Not what we want. All of the buildings behind it are barracks." He kept looking. It wasn't a great picture but it showed this place was big.

"What we want is either to the left or right of the barracks. It looks like all the ammunition is in bunkers in the back just like the last time. I don't think I know a way in to any of these. I don't remember being here, but I might have been. It's a little blurry.

"We go past these buildings; you go right and I'll go left. We find what we want, we inform the other and then we leave. I want a full day here, not rushing to get what we need and then running. We might not be able to run far enough." Hunt gave back the binder, climbed back into his seat, and started moving.

It was easily an hour later. "I've found it. There are buildings, Stryker's, trucks, and other vehicles. Meet you at the front gate," Hunt suddenly announced. Kate, Alexis, Rick, and Bear got back into their Stryker to meet him.

"Find us a place not too far away. We'll go straight there in the morning," Hunt said, waiting for Kate to get out in front.

"Which way?" Kate inquired at the intersection. Alexis checked her binder.

"Go right, there's a big parking lot that we passed on the way here." Alexis watched as Kate drove and then turned right to get into a mostly empty parking lot of something called _Kronospan LLC._

"Three hours until sunset, so look around but don't go far. Castle, do you want some help cooking this time?" Kate was willing to help.

"I've got it." He walked to the Command and Control trailer.

"What do you think?" Kate found Hunt alone and wanted his opinion.

"They've got the tires we need, that's for sure. Might even have a fuel depot like last time." Hunt liked it.

"We could fill our tanks completely. It'll allow us to get really far from here before we have to stop again. This is taking forever." She was so ready to be done.

"Those buildings up front are what worry me, as well as the barracks. There could be thousands of infecteds around here. The base, even this building." Hunt knew coming here was a risk, but they didn't have a choice.

Kate nodded. "Get in, get what we want, and get out. And get far, far away from here."

"I'd like to talk to this captain of yours. Find out what he has learned while cleaning out the base he is at or was at." Hunt turned to look at the Command and Control trailer.

"Alexis, meet us at the Command and Control trailer." There was no time like the present.

~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~

"The captain's on his way. How are you doing?" Jarod asked while they waited.

"We've been in the Anniston Army Depot. There are some really big buildings here," Alexis admitted with a little trepidation about tomorrow.

"Miss Alexis, it's good to see you. Jarod has been keeping me apprised of your progress. I appreciate all the information. I wish we could park where you park. However, I fear we'll have a trail of vehicles almost a mile long." The captain gave a tired sigh. Just planning on what vehicle and who went where was turning into a nightmare.

"I have someone that wants to talk to you, Captain." Alexis gave way for Hunt.

"Captain Zimmerman, I'm Jackson Hunt," he said after sitting down.

Seeing the man left the captain a little confused. The person in front of him was younger than he was and the person he thought he was remembering was closer to his age. _"You_ _'re_ Jackson Hunt?"

"Yes, Captain. Sir, I have a few questions. We're going to go into the base tomorrow and I've been told that you've been fighting the infecteds at the base where you're located. I want to know what you've learned so we can be prepared."

The captain was still looking at Hunt trying to reconcile what he remembered with what he was seeing.

"Captain?" Hunt asked, not understanding the delay.

The captain shook his head. "I had two hunt and destroy teams. We cleared out the place, building by building. A couple were too big to do in a single day. Those buildings were the ones that gave us the most trouble.

"I believe that they're not as stupid as you might think. Our second trip into that building was met with great resistance. They even chased us out into the sunlight. They screamed from the pain it caused them but still they chased us.

"They die like any other person and they are at least as strong as the normal person. Be warned – they put everything into their attacks. I didn't see any planning involved. It was a lot like WWII Japanese banzai attacks. No skill or planning of any kind. They also don't use weapons. They have to get in close."

"Basically large masses attacking looking for hand-to-hand fighting, then. Up close and personal." Hunt thought that helped and presented its own problems. "Any indication that if we used traps that they would find them?" Could they plan ahead a little?

The captain thought about that. "None. It was just a mass of people attacking in any way they could. Though the more you attack them the more furious they get, it looked like."

"Thank you, Captain, wish us luck." Hunt left the chair, allowing Alexis to sit back down.

"I'll contact you the day after to update you on how it went," Alexis said; she waved and shut down.

~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~

"What are you thinking, Hunt?" Kate had heard every word and it sounded like he had a plan.

"I want you to get the tires while I place booby traps at the doors of those large buildings, using up most if not all of the Semtex that we have. You hear them exploding and you'll know we have big trouble and can act accordingly," Hunt replied.

"Attacking even into the sunlight sounds a lot like that maintenance building we were in. We killed some of them and they attacked regardless of the pain it caused them." Kate saw a pattern.

"The question is, does sunlight only hurt them or will it eventually kill them? A building full of screaming from pain infecteds can be extremely dangerous." Hunt was silent for a moment.

"I'm thinking that someone should be manning that .50 Cal on your Stryker while you and my son get the tires we need. Two for the trailer and at least one for the Strykers," Hunt suggested.

"It would be nice if we had time to raid their ammunition depot, but I don't know which shelter to go to or how to get into it. Maybe we can replace the ammunition we use later." They weren't there yet.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate picked up a long thin string of what looked like meat. "What's this?" The spaghetti she recognized along with the tomatoes.

Rick bristled slightly. "It's Spam. …Spam Spaghetti. I saw it in a Hawaiian cookbook a long time ago and thought now was as good a time as any to try it. We don't have much frozen meat left."

Everyone used their bread to wipe their plates clean so Rick was smiling broadly at his choice of what to prepare. He even still had more cans of Spam that he could use along with a lot of unused pasta.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate drove straight to where Hunt told her about while Hunt went to the backside of the first building and set up a trip wire connected to a bar of Semtex. "One building done. Get ready," Hunt advised them and began setting up the first on the second building. His only problem was that there were more doors than they had Semtex.

"Last one, go!" Hunt ran for his Stryker and climbed up to get in. They had chosen to unhitch the hydrogen trailer and the Command and Control trailer back in the parking lot so that they could drive as fast as they dared.

"Ready?" Kate looked up at Alexis who was half in and half out of the Stryker and watched her pull back to arm it and point at the building they were headed for.

There were three roll up doors and they were all open. It was just that the sun was coming up in the wrong direction. The inside remained a little dark. "Just tires, Castle. Find what we want while I cover you." Kate prepared her hand weapon and led Rick into the building.

The second she saw a shadow move, she fired.

Rick found the trailer tires stacked up side by side by side. He pulled one off and started rolling it toward the Stryker. He rolled it right up the ramp and ran back outside just as Kate emptied her weapon, ejected the clip, and slapped in a new one.

Rick ran inside and grabbed a tire and began rolling it while hearing Kate empty her second clip. "We're getting resistance," Alexis informed Hunt.

"Acknowledged." Hunt remained standing with his AR-15 in his hands, scanning the area. So far there was nothing where he was.

Alexis watched her dad run back inside to search for at least one Stryker tire when she heard screaming. She spun to her right. " **KATE!** "Alexis pulled the trigger. She heard and felt it bucking in her hands as round after round was fired.

There was a building a little ways away that looked even bigger than this one. Infecteds came pouring out of it, screaming from the pain of being in the sun. They all wore what was left of their combat uniforms.

They were too far for Kate's handheld weapon; she heard Hunt yelling in her ear, demanding to know what was going on. It was then that she saw more movement inside her building and it had her turning to cover Rick and start firing.

Alexis thought she saw her dad rolling a really big tire straight for the opening in the Stryker, but she kept most of her attention on the infecteds that were still running their way.

"Close the door, Castle." Kate ran for the Stryker and climbed up to get in. "Hunt, we're headed your way but we're bringing friends with us." Kate saw Alexis cutting them down; it was just that there were so many.

Alexis was forced to stop firing every time Kate turned hard. She couldn't focus and keep firing at the same time.

They all felt Kate rumble at full speed over a number of railroad tracks. "We're coming at you, Hunt," Kate yelled into her headset. It was then that she heard Alexis go back to firing her weapon. Her mirrors showed her a wave headed her way.

"Correction, get out, Hunt, get out now!" He was going to get run over if he just sat there. Kate blew down the road at full speed with a barracks on her left and one of those enormous administrative buildings on her right until she slammed on the brakes so that she could turn right.

Alexis was forced to stop firing just as they all heard a massive explosion, followed shortly by another one.

Kate slammed her foot to the floor and surged forward between the two buildings.

"Faster, Kate, a lot faster." Alexis was losing even though she kept firing. They were going to reach her when suddenly the two closest fell away.

Kate saw Hunt sitting off to one side just in front of the gatehouse. "Hunt, don't stop, we need to…" She stopped talking when she saw him fire a missile to a place behind her.

Alexis was still firing without worrying about how much ammunition she still had when suddenly one end of one of the administration building just blew up and sent debris everywhere. It was another of those Hollywood fireballs that this time included bodies flying everywhere.

Kate didn't stop until she reached where the trailers were located. "How we doing?" Kate turned to look inside the Stryker to find Alexis sitting on a tire, wailing. Rick was sitting on another tire and looked like he was reaching out to hold Alexis but then didn't.

It was too hard to get out of her chair and into the Stryker so she pushed the button and climbed out and ran around. "What happened?" She headed straight for Alexis.

" **DON'T TOUCH ME!** " Alexis screamed which had Kate coming up short. Alexis was still crying heavily. "I'm…infected." Alexis held up her hand that was covered in blood and just sat there, sobbing.

Turning to look at Rick showed that he was barely even with them. His tears were rolling down his face and he looked frozen in place.

"Get up, we're going to scrub you clean." Kate reached out to grab her.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Alexis was dead and she knew it.

"Damn it, Alexis, get up." Kate grabbed her arm that looked clean and yanked her up. She pulled a stumbling Alexis over to the Command and Control trailer and opened the door, only to have Bear run out and begin barking at Alexis.

"Get in and start scrubbing." Kate dragged her inside and gave her a towel. She turned on the water and started searching for an antibacterial cleanser, willing to try anything that could possibly help.

Kate turned and found Alexis sitting on the floor still crying. "Get up, Alexis, and start scrubbing." She dropped the bottle in her lap and began filling what she could find with water.

" **NOW SCRUB!** "Kate wasn't going to just give up. "Scrub or I'll do it for you. Now scrub, damn it!"

Kate went out the other door and sat down and felt her heart start to constrict; she found it was hard to breathe. Her own sobbing soon started.

Hunt pulled up next to the other Stryker and found his son sitting on tires crying and then saw Kate sitting on the ground, sobbing.

"Katherine?" Hunt went to her first followed by Martha.

"Katherine, darling, whatever is the matter?" Martha asked.

She looked up and saw Hunt and Martha through her tears. "Alexis…" Kate tried to find the breath to even speak. "She's infected."

Martha pressed a hand to her heart. "OH, GOD!"

"SHIT!" Hunt left the two of them and went inside the trailer to look. He saw a crying Alexis sitting on the floor slowly moving a wash cloth up and down her arm and over her face.

"Clean, Alexis, harder!" She needed to try and save her own life.

"I'm infected! It's useless." Alexis dropped her wash cloth and curled up inside herself, crying. All while hearing Bear bark **.**

What Hunt wanted to do was clean her himself. But if she was right, she would still have infected blood or whatever on her and hearing Bear barking only reinforced that notion.

Hunt stepped outside and saw Martha hugging Kate as they both wept. His broken son was sitting in the Stryker, sobbing. He could hear him from here.

He made up his mind. " **FUCK THIS!** "Hunt went back inside and pulled on a pair of those big rubber gloves used for cleaning. He grabbed the cleanser on the floor, poured a lot on the already wet wash cloth, and started scrubbing his granddaughter.

" **DON'T TOUCH ME!** " Alexis shrieked. She was infected and didn't want to get anyone else infected. She was dead but she wasn't taking anyone she loved with her.

"SHUT UP AND SIT STILL! You're not dead yet," Hunt snapped. He kept scrubbing until he almost had Alexis naked. Then he stripped her of her bra and panties, went outside, and got ready to burn everything she'd had on.

Her clothes were now heavily involved and he went back to find everyone including Alexis still crying, sitting there naked. Interestingly – and thankfully – Bear wasn't barking any longer.

He stood there thinking. Then he dug through their supplies, searching for one of the cases he'd gotten from the ambulance. Finding it, he riffled through it. "Hold still." Hunt took her arm, pressed a syringe to it, and injected her. "Now get dressed. You're still alive, so fight, damn you." He lifted her up and took her outside, still naked, and into the Stryker where Rick was sitting, devastated and crying.

"She's not dead yet, son. Pull it together and get her dressed." Rick just sat there. " **RICHARD!** " Hunt bellowed at him to get him moving

Hunt was standing outside and looked around. Everyone was broken and crying. He had heard the .50 cal firing and was betting it had very little ammunition left, if any at all. And he'd used their last missile.

"All for three stinking tires!" Hunt paused then walked over to an abandoned car, drew his hand weapon, and emptied a clip into it.


	34. Chapter 34

**Found - 18**

 _Still at 2 weeks and 3 days since leaving Disney_

Kate watched as Alexis threw up into a bucket in the back of the Stryker. Her hands encased in rubber gloves and a cloth mask covering her nose and mouth, Kate took the bucket to clean it out and handed her a wet wash cloth. A wash cloth that was dedicated strictly for her use.

Kate took the bucket outside to wash it and walked up to the others who were all standing outside looking at nothing. "She's continuing to vomit and she's white as a sheet. I don't know what else to do for her. You said she's allergic to penicillin." Rick nodded.

"I've used up all of the other antibiotics that we have," Hunt added. "Is she still all wrapped up?" The most he could think of was to keep her warm. Heartsick, Kate nodded.

"She's been begging me to kill her before she turns." That was the worst part for Kate so far. To have to hear someone she loved ask her to kill them was unbearable.

Retching, Rick hurried over to the edge of the parking lot and threw up.

It had been three days and they had taken turns watching her night and day. Though to be honest, no one was getting any sleep. "Is three days good news or bad news?" Martha asked.

"For the first infected it took 3 months. After that we don't know for sure." Kate saw Rick walk back and go past them, heading for the trailer. "I don't know, Martha. …I don't know. But there **is** someone who needs to know." Kate began walking toward the Command and Control trailer.

"OH, NO!" Martha wasn't blind and knew the kid liked her granddaughter. Hunt wrapped an arm around her.

~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~

"SSBN 826, are you online?" Kate had turned on everything and saw Jarod appear on her screen.

"Miss Kate, isn't it? Where's Alexis?" He didn't understand why Kate was calling.

"We went into the base to get the tires we needed. The place was crawling with infecteds." Kate really didn't want to have to tell him this.

"No…please, no." Kate could see the pain on his face at what he was thinking and fearing.

"I'm really sorry, Jarod, but Alexis is infected," Kate told him quickly.

"GOD, **NO!** " He wiped at his tears.

"She's not dead and hasn't turned yet. However, she is sick. She's throwing up and is as white as a sheet. We've used up all of our antibiotics." Kate felt bad for him.

"I'll…I'll inform the captain. Thank you for calling to tell me…tell us. I'll call back in a couple of days." Jarod ended the transmission and collapsed onto his keyboard. "Infected," he groaned. Angry at feeling so helpless, he punched the metal container next to him, breaking a knuckle.

His response told Kate that he had more than just a crush on Alexis. "I'm really sorry, Jarod." Kate sat back in the chair and didn't know what to do next except take the bucket back to Alexis and keep watching her.

~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~

Hunt settled in behind Kate who had the binder out. "Where are we and where do we go next?"

Kate touched the map. "We're here. We started here and we need to get here. So we're about half way so far. Weeks later and we're only half way." She couldn't believe it. It felt like so much longer.

"How is she?" Hunt asked quietly. It had been four days now and they planned on staying another four to get their tanks full.

Rick had mostly taken over watching and caring for Alexis. When he wasn't on the edge of the parking lot throwing up, that is. Kate didn't know if it was the smell or just the fact that Alexis was still throwing up or because his nerves couldn't take it. Her heart ached for him but she was also so very proud of him. His little girl was sick and he was doing what he could.

"As sick as a dog and still as white as a sheet. She drinks water, eats the chicken soup that Rick heats up, and then throws it up. But her eyes aren't red." Kate had noticed that part. All the infecteds they'd encountered had red eyes that almost glowed in the dark.

Kate straightened up and took a deep breath. "So, back to our itinerary. I'm thinking Chattanooga Armory Exchange next, then go around Knoxville since we need to stay away from large cities. After that, Fort Campbell which will be our last chance for anything until we get to Fort Leonard Woods. If we need more tires that will be our last chance. We need to get there before this place kills us all." Kate was done and so past hating this trip.

"We can get some explosives or grenades maybe. We're down to the AR-15s and our hand weapons. We're going to have to go on the defensive with our Strykers." They didn't have much in the way of offense any longer and Hunt didn't like it.

"How is your sub captain?" Hunt inquired.

"They pulled out this morning. He's betting that they'll have a convoy a mile long. He's using everything he could find. Stryker's of all kinds. Trucks of all types. He's even got semi flat beds with equipment on board. He stripped the place of everything and is heavily armed. He's agonized over just where everything is and who is where," Kate replied.

Hunt started nodding. "He's going to be vulnerable at night. What's up front can't help what's in the middle, let alone in the back." If he used the types of roads they did and avoided the Interstates, he was going to have difficulty keeping everyone safe and not lose anything or anyone.

"He's going to need to raid for food along the way." They only had five people, while he had 154.

"I'm going to go check on Rick and Alexis after I check the hydrogen generator." Kate put the binder down and left Hunt to do what he wanted.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate checked on Alexis while Rick helped her take a sip of water. "We're getting ready to leave. How do you feel?"

"Like shit. …You should have killed me." Alexis was still convinced she was going to turn; it was just taking a little longer than she thought it would.

"Don't, pumpkin, please," Rick begged her.

"Your eyes aren't red and you're sitting up so you must be feeling better. When was the last time you threw up?" Kate asked and reached for the bag of saline that Hunt had set up. He'd wanted to make sure she was hydrated.

Alexis shrugged; she didn't remember or care. "Just relax and try to sleep. Bear isn't barking at you in case you hadn't noticed." Kate tried to help Alexis feel better.

"Castle, sit up front. I need you to navigate." Kate got Rick to get up and was pushing him out the back.

Kate pressed the button after getting in her seat. "No Interstates, Castle, and don't get us lost." She trusted Alexis more than she did Castle.

"Turn left and then left again at the tee." Rick looked at Alexis's maps. "Then turn left onto route 109." He started looking ahead.

"Sparkle Mart," Rick noted and pointed to the left.

Kate shot it down. "Another convenience mart. We need a grocery store not junk food. Keep your eyes open for one of those."

She turned left onto State Route 431 and immediately began going around abandoned cars. "It's a little crowded here."

Kate stopped on the bridge over the Coosa River and let Hunt pull up next to her. "Two days here then we keep moving." She thought it was a good place to stop even though the sun wasn't going to go down for another three hours.

"There was a Walmart Supercenter behind us," Rick pointed out but Kate shook her head.

"They're concrete boxes with no glass and likely filled with infecteds. Let's have an early dinner then we can look around a little before looking a little harder the next two days."

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate leaned down to look Alexis in the eye. "You're looking better. Your eyes still aren't red. Bear isn't barking at you and I think you're starting to get your color back." Kate liked what she saw. "How do you feel?"

"Like shit." Alexis wasn't impressed in the least.

Kate had another question. "When was the last time you threw up?"

Alexis had to think about that. "Yesterday, maybe." She hadn't actually thought about it. She still felt terrible. "Where are we?"

"Ask Castle, he's the navigator now." Kate left her to go to the Command and Control trailer.

Alexis looked at her dad for an answer. "I don't know. Something about 431 so we can turn onto 411. Kate stopped on a bridge over a river." Alexis glared at him for being so useful.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"How you holding up, Castle?" Kate noticed that he wasn't really eating.

Rick was saved from answering when there was a sudden thunderclap. "Thunderstorm?" It hadn't rained during this entire trip. Kate opened the door of the trailer to look outside.

They had left Alexis on her mattress with Bear to keep her company. "Maybe we should get off the bridge. It's almost dark so we need to be fast." Kate ran to her Stryker while Hunt ran to his.

A moment later they were stopped on the ramp down to US Route 411 before shutting down for the night.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate found Alexis in her seat with her binder out. "What are you doing up here?"

"Dad couldn't find his way across town without a taxi. If we're going to get there you need me," Alexis argued.

"I can hear you, you know." Rick feigned being hurt even though seeing his little girl up and moving around made him feel a whole lot better.

"You're sure you're good for this?" Kate thought she looked better and she certainly sounded better.

"I'm sure I'll fall asleep on you. So we should get moving before I do." Alexis yawned to reinforce her point. "North on 411, if you please." Alexis looked ahead. "Get off on Route 68 though it's a risk since it will take us closer to Interstate 59. It just doesn't look like we have a choice." US Route 11 ran parallel for a long time so going this direction was a risk.

"Fuel?" Alexis asked Kate.

"Half a tank." It was their only problem at the moment.

Suddenly Alexis giggled at the sign out in front of a Victorian home. "The Secret Bed and Breakfast." She found it very amusing.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"Alexis." Kate had come to a tee in the road. "ALEXIS!" Kate needed to know which way to turn.

"Sorry, what?" Alexis stirred and came fully awake. "Piggly Wiggly!" she indicated, straight ahead.

Kate hadn't noticed as she was focused on the road and not what was next to it. "Groceries. Hunt, we have a grocery store in front of us. We need to raid it for canned food and maybe something for the bread machine." She turned right and then left into the parking lot.

"Three hours until sunset. Let's get to work." Kate saw Alexis start to get up. "YOU are staying here. We'll take Bear with us but you're staying here and I don't want to hear anything about it." Kate put her foot down and popped her top.

Bear ran out and lifted his leg on a light pole.

Kate and Hunt had an AR-15 while the others had hand weapons. "Stay close to Hunt, Martha, and remember what I taught you. You're with me, Castle. Grab a cart and let's go shopping." They needed these groceries.

It was an old Piggly Wiggly with a limited amount of windows up front. It was next to a Dollar General. "Let's go, Bear. We need dog food, too."

They were on their second trip when Bear started barking and backing up. Kate raised her weapon and saw two infecteds rounding the corner. She shot both of them instantly. But Bear didn't stop barking.

"Take your carts and everyone outside, NOW!" It was time to take what they'd gathered and leave.

Being outside saved them for the moment. Until the six that were still inside came rushing out into the sunshine, screaming from the pain only to be gunned down by Kate and Hunt.

"Back inside or leave?" Kate asked and glanced over at Bear who was still barking.

"We leave," Hunt said. They pushed their carts to their respective Strykers, closed the backs and left.

"That wasn't enough but it helped." Kate looked over at Alexis who was asleep again. She practically climbing over the sleeping girl to reach for the binder.

"North on 411." Kate turned left and kept going.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Alexis stirred and stretched. "Sorry," she mumbled. She hadn't meant to fall asleep on her. "Kate! It's almost dark out."

"Is it?" Kate looked at her surroundings instead of the road. "It is, isn't it." She'd screwed up. Had she also tuned Hunt out because she didn't remember him calling out to her.

"There, turn right," Alexis said.

Kate turned right. She went up and then left into a large parking lot and moved to the very center and saw Hunt park next to her. She hit the button let Bear and Rick out. He read the sign on the building. "Dade County Senior Center."

Kate and Alexis caught up to him. "This looks like nice place. Soccer fields." Rick pointed to his right. "Tennis courts and what looks like ball fields beyond. Maybe we can retire here," he suggested and felt Kate punch him in the arm.

"Only if you want to be infected, Dad." Alexis teased. "And trust me, you don't want to be."

"Look who looks better." He turned to hug Alexis tightly. It was the first time in what felt a long time that Rick felt at peace.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Bear hadn't barked when they got close to the building so they raided it and gained a few things since it had a kitchen with a small pantry.

Rick opened the refrigerator and slammed it closed; he turned away like he was ready to throw up. "No one open that thing!" Alexis grinned while Kate rolled her eyes at him.

"It has games and cards." Alexis said hopefully since they didn't have any.

"Strip poker?" Rick smiled broadly, waggled his eyebrows, and looked at Kate who did appear a little enthused. "I'll admit that I miss making love to you, Castle, but we need to stay alive long enough to ever have sex again. And if we can find a way, so can Hunt and Martha," Kate reminded him.

Rick shuddered at the thought of his parents having sex. "I take it back. I can wait. Just as soon as I can take a cold shower."

"Castle? This way." Kate took his hand, dragged him inside the building, and found a room. With the door closed, she dropped to her knees and started working on his belt.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"I feel better, Dad." Alexis was putting up with him giving her a bone-crushing hug.

He didn't let go of her. "Indulge me. You scared the hell out of me."

"You and me both. I should be changed. I should be an infected." Alexis didn't understand why not. Everyone else had been.

"Richard, Alexis." Martha found them hugging and decided to join them.

"I'm fine, Grams, even if I don't understand why." Alexis was happy but perplexed.

"Just don't scare us like that again. I'm too young to have gray hairs this soon." Alexis smiled, not noticing that her dad got his humor from his mother.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"Give me that." Kate took the hose from Alexis and started filling their Stryker with hydrogen.

"I could manage," Alexis asserted defensively.

"You're still weak from being sick and shouldn't be working hard." Kate wasn't going to put up with her working at all actually. "How do you feel?"

"Honestly, I'm a little tired and a little hungry. I know we don't have any meat anymore but I would kill for something besides soup," Alexis admitted.

"A nice thick porterhouse." Kate closed her eyes and pictured it.

"Leg of lamb with mint jelly." Alexis closed her eyes and tried to picture it.

"Roast suckling pig." Kate said, her mouth watering.

"YES! The way they do it in Spain." Alexis was in. Then she popped both their dreams. "You know we're going to end up with Chow Mien with dried noodles out of a can. That or canned chili."

"Beats eating Bear's canned food," Kate grinned. Alexis began laughing and then started to cough.

"Sorry, no more jokes." Kate hadn't meant for Alexis to feel bad again.

"Two more days then we can keep moving." Alexis took the hose and let it roll back up in the hydrogen generator while Kate closed up the Stryker. "Poker later?" Alexis inquired. Kate quickly agreed.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

All five of them were smiling widely before putting on their poker faces. "Ante up." Alexis threw in her Hasbro gummy bear followed by everyone else.

"How many cards, Hunt?" Alexis asked.

"Three, please." Hunt threw in three cards.

"Three cards for your two of a kind." Alexis turned to Kate. "Cards?"

"Two, please." Kate threw in two cards.

"Two cards for Kate's three of a kind or prayer for a flush. Grams?"

"I'll take four, please." Martha threw in four cards.

"Four cards for Grams who has an ace. …Dad?" Alexis turned to Rick.

"One please." Rick threw in one card.

"One card for Dad who's looking for a flush, straight or is bluffing."

"Dealer takes three." Alexis threw in three and gave herself three cards.

"Two bears." Hunt threw in his two gummy bears.

"Grams?" Alexis inquired.

"Four?" Martha threw in four gummy bears.

"Your four, Mother, and four more." Rick threw in his gummy bears.

"I'm out." Kate tossed in her cards since she had nothing.

"Dealer…folds." Alexis threw in her cards and waited.

"Hunt?" Alexis asked since he was next.

"I like gummy bears but not if I can't eat them." Hunt threw in his cards.

"Grams, it's four to you," Alexis informed her in case she didn't play much.

"I can eat Jackson's bears," Martha stated and saw Bear lift his head again at his name being used. "Four plus four," Martha offered and threw in her bears.

"That's a lot of sugar, Castle," Kate teased.

Rick looked at her and kept his poker face. "Four and four more." He threw in his bears.

"Four to call, Grams." They all watched as Hunt leaned in and whispered something in her ear and then saw Martha shove all of her bears into the center.

"OH, GOD. Castle's going to be up all night with that much sugar," Kate moaned, even if he did sleep in the cot on the other side of the Stryker.

"All in, Mother." Rick pushed all of his bears into the pile. "Two pair, eights and sixes." Rick was proud of his cards. His one card hadn't gotten him the full house that he'd hoped for.

"Grams?" Alexis was interested.

Martha laid her cards down. Kate started laughing while Rick slumped and Alexis and Hunt began smiling.

"Three aces." Kate was amazed. It meant she got two of them on the draw which was practically impossible. "Thank you, Martha." Kate was going to get some sleep tonight after all.

But she hadn't counted on Castle being a sore loser and was forced to listen to him grumble until she finally fell asleep.


	35. Chapter 35

**Found - 19**

 _It has been 4 weeks and 5 days since leaving Disney_ _World_

"Another small town." Kate saw it starting with residences on large lots. "What's it called?"

"Trenton and I need you to stop somewhere, anywhere for a few minutes," Alexis said urgently. Kate stopped in front of Fred's Pharmacy.

"Bathroom break and then all of us need to meet at the trailer." Alexis took her binder with her and climbed out.

A little later after she and Bear had done their business, Kate heard, "Sorry." They hadn't been on the road long and she really needed to go. "But we have a problem that's too big for just me to decide what to do," Alexis warned them.

"We're on US Route 11 in Trenton, about here," Alexis touched her finger the map as everyone crowded in. "Up here is Chattanooga, Tennessee. A city, not just a town. The problem is it sits next to the Tennessee River. We have to go through Chattanooga to reach one of these three bridges or we get off 11 and onto Interstate 24 to reach one of two bridges before turning north on Route 28 that will later become US Route 127." She used her finger to trace the entire route.

Hunt broke it down. "So we either go through a city or we risk an Interstate."

"Hell of a choice." Kate stepped back, hating both routes.

"May I?" Rick took the binder from Alexis and studied it. "Interstate 24 doesn't really go anywhere except as a way to get to Nashville."

Kate immediately shot him down. "Nashville is out, Castle. Chattanooga is bad enough, but Nashville, no."

"I know that, Kate, but the point I'm trying to make is that this Interstate doesn't take you anywhere except as a way to get across the river. There are just small towns between here and Nashville."

"May I, son?" Hunt took the binder and began flipping pages. "This happened relatively fast, right?" He tried to reason out which way to take. "You've found the Interstates crowded inside the cities and we've stayed off of them even way out here for fear of that. There are two bridges over the river, 24 and 64.

"If we can get to this intersection on 24, we can unhitch one of the Strykers and use it to scout and maybe clear a path along the way. If it takes us two days then it takes two days. I know we have one bar of Semtex left and a few detonators. What we can't push, we blow up. So long as it isn't on a bridge." He didn't want to risk blowing a hole in their bridge.

"Chattanooga, that's likely filled with infecteds or the Interstate that might be filled with cars." Kate hated both but was starting to like one over the other.

Alexis took her binder back. "We can stay on 11 until…Morganville Road. We turn left at the hospital and get on Interstate 59. That will get us on 24." She looked up at everyone.

"So, Interstate?" Kate raised her hand a little and watched everyone else slowly do the same. "We need another grocery store or even a convenience mart in case this takes us a couple of days," she added and looked at Alexis to reinforce her point.

"Left at the hospital." Alexis started walking to their Stryker. "Come on, Bear, break's over."

A short time later Alexis began laughing. "It's an _animal hospital."_ She had thought it was a people hospital. "Bear does need shots. Can we stop? Please. He's almost a year old or is a year old." She wasn't certain.

"Sure." Kate stopped on Morganville Road and let Hunt pull up next to her.

Bear wasn't barking so they went in the front door and went in back to look for drugs.

"OH, NO!" Alexis stopped at the first cage. It had a dead dog inside it as did the one next to it.

"No food, no water." Hunt shook his head. Starvation and dehydration was no way to die.

Focusing on what she needed, Alexis recited the words while she searched. "Rabies, distemper, parvo, and bordetella."

It took close to an hour and a very unhappy Bear was sulking his way toward the Stryker after getting three shots and having a liquid shoved up his nose. "It's for your own good, Bear." Alexis petted him and kept walking with her bag of goodies as well as some canned food for him. Kate and Rick also had a bag of goodies as well as a bag of dog food. They had raided it for more shots later and some medical items for Bear. Hunt and Martha had bags of dog food too.

A now happy Alexis climbed down into her seat. "Turn right onto Interstate 59."

At first it was a little busy and then suddenly…nothing. Then they passed an occasional car sitting on the side of the road or in the middle of the road.

"Left lane to get onto Interstate 24," Alexis said since they exited from the left land instead of getting off to the right. She read the sign. "Welcome to Tennessee. It's a long way from Florida."

"I think there's a road that parallels us to the right. There just doesn't appear to be a way to get on and off it." Alexis could see buildings and homes.

"It might be why the Interstate is so clear." Kate was actually driving above 30 mph.

"Oops!" Kate began to slow down before coming to a stop. "This might take some time."

There was an earthworks that went to their right that had a small bridge that connected to Route 134. The Interstate itself went straight, however, the entire place was filled with cars, trucks, and semis scattered everywhere.

"Looks like our first problem," Hunt stated after pulling up next to Kate.

A few cars were actually headed their way, going the wrong way on the Interstate. Though most had turned and went the direction they wanted to go.

Kate, Alexis, and Hunt stood on their Stryker's so they could see. "We don't have any binoculars, do we?" Alexis didn't remember ever seeing a pair and didn't see Kate and Hunt shake their heads. Now would have been a good time to have a pair.

"It looks like a pair of convenience marts to our left," Alexis pointed out.

"They're probably filled to overflowing with infecteds." The people from all these cars had to be somewhere. Kate glanced at her watch. "About five hours until sunset. Unhitch me and let's get started." She started to climb down.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

It was almost dark out and Alexis had moved over to the communications system after eating the dinner her dad had made for them.

"What was that again, Castle?" Kate inquired as Alexis turned everything on.

"Rosetta bread rolls stuffed with Spam and a few secret ingredients." Rick was proud of himself. Especially when his secret was that they didn't have much.

"I never thought I would like Spam so much. It's not bad." Kate helped him set up the bread machine for tomorrow.

"SSBN 826, are you online?" Alexis called out and saw Jarod pop up on her screen.

"ALEXIS! THANK GOD!" What he wanted to do was kiss the screen since he couldn't actually kiss her. "I've called for the captain. It may take him a few minutes. …How are you feeling? We were told you were infected." He was glad she was alive, but didn't understand how.

"I was." Alexis was sure that she had been.

"She was." Kate showed up behind Alexis and kissed the top of her head. "She was sick for days and as white as a ghost," Kate added. "Don't be long, it's almost dark and it's likely not safe here." She left her to talk to Jarod.

"I felt like crap but I'm better now. We're getting ready to cross the Tennessee River on Interstate 24. But it's a mess so it might take us a day or two. We don't have much in the way of explosives to work with. We've used a lot so far." Alexis saw him take notes.

"We've stopped for the night, too. It's our third night. You didn't win the pool by the way," Jarod said.

"That's okay, I'm not sure money is worth anything anymore." Alexis shrugged, not sure she even had the hundred dollars she had used to bet with.

"Good point. The captain's here." Jarod stood up to let the captain sit.

"Miss Alexis. You had us all worried. We were told you were infected." The captain didn't understand.

"I was and it was bad, but I feel a lot better now." She didn't want to remember those days.

"You fought off being infected. Our ship's doctor is going to want to learn everything. I'll see what I can do to get him moved."

He proceeded to update her on their plans and location. "We're almost a mile long. I've broken everyone down to three groups. We found three flat beds with big hydrogen generators and trucks that have tanks to hold the hydrogen. Each is its own combat group. So far we're making good time. We're using you as an example and staying off the Interstates." He had put their experience and information to good use.

"We're somewhere between Dallas and Shreveport. McAlester Army Ammunition Plant is our next destination, though it will take us a few days. Then Camp Gruber."

"ALEXIS, TIME TO GO!" Kate yelled into the trailer.

"Sorry, sir, gotta go, have a safe trip." Alexis waved, killed the transmission, and shut everything down. Then she hurried out into darkness and ran with Kate to their Stryker.

Alexis reached for her binder. "Camp Gruber." She began searching for it.

Kate had heard her. "Is that where we're going next? I thought it was somewhere else."

"That's where they're headed. I just want to see where that is in relationship to us," she replied absently as she started flipping pages.

Alexis closed her binder and dropped it in her seat. "We're not going to come even close to them unless they suddenly go east for a long distance." Disappointed, she settled down on her mattress in the space Bear had left her. They were too far east to meet up with them.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate watched Hunt run her way and blow past her. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" he yelled and a moment later two explosions that were close together went off. She looked at one of her small screens to see the camera view – which was mostly how she drove – and saw car parts flying everywhere.

Suddenly Hunt was right behind her. "Now go forward and see if you can move what's left off to one side."

She moved slowly. One of the cars was still on fire a little as she shoved a burnt hulk to one side and kept going. "OH SHIT!" Kate stopped as she looked ahead. "HUNT!" She had no idea what they were going to do with this thing.

Kate soon saw him standing in front of their Stryker so she popped the top and stood up. "That thing could blow up the bridge." Kate and Hunt looked at a tanker on its side.

"Alexis, sweetheart, can you run up here please? We could use another opinion." Kate had left her behind partly because she still tired easily.

Kate was standing in her Stryker while Hunt was forward looking it over when Alexis showed up. "A tanker." Alexis wasn't happy with the news. "Try and find the manifest. It should be in the cab somewhere," Alexis told Hunt and watched him climb up the cab to get the door open.

He located the manifest and climbed out of the cab. "Five thousand gallons of unleaded, five thousand gallons of unleaded plus and five thousand gallons of unleaded supreme."

"That's a lot of weight." Alexis wasn't sure the Stryker could move it. "Fifteen thousand times eight is…a hundred and twenty thousand pounds. Can we blow it up?" It was the only solution she could think of.

"ALEXIS! It'll blow up the bridge. The bridge we need, may I remind you." Kate was sure she had lost her mind.

"It's been over 10 months, Kate. All the gas in that tanker has become useless for the most part." Alexis was sure of it. "Hunt, see if you can get some of it out and smell it. If it smells sour it's gone bad. It might still burn a little, though." She knew it was useless in cars.

"You're sure it won't blow up?" Kate wasn't convinced.

"No…not really. I just know we can't use it." Alexis hedged her bets. Then a phantom light bulb lit up over her head. "DRAIN IT! Just open up the taps and drain it."

They both heard Hunt say, "WOW! That stuff stinks."

"Hunt, open up all the valves you can find and drain it. Once it's empty we can push it off to one side," Kate explained. "Nice work, Alexis. Hop in back and lie down, this is going to take some time."

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"Remind me again why we stayed off the Interstates?" Kate was cruising at just under 40 mph and was loving it.

Alexis rolled her eyes. "You just jinxed us, you know." Kate was all set to argue that there was no such thing until she remembered that Castle had taught her that magic existed.

"When do we get off?" Things were good so things just had to go bad.

"That's the bad news. All roads lead to Nashville. No roads go around it. For once we're going to have to play this by ear." Alexis loved planning and this time there wasn't one.

"Get off and turn right and then right again." Alexis caught a glimpse of a sign and it was just what they needed. "It's on the left." She wasn't surprised that Kate had done as she had said.

"Food Lion? Is that what I think it is?" Kate was hopeful.

"A grocery store," Alexis smiled widely, pleased with herself.

Kate parked in the empty parking lot, turned around, and waited for Hunt to park next to her.

They were soon standing outside looking in through a wall of windows. "This was easier when the power was still on," Kate observed. The good part was that Bear wasn't barking…yet.

"Grab a cart and fill it. Be sure to keep your eyes open and listen for Bear to start barking." Kate headed for the door that she had to force open since the power was out.

A short while later, she saw Alexis's cart outside by the Stryker. "Gatorade?"

"Yeah, look inside the Stryker, Kate, what do you see?" Did she see what she saw or knew?

"A lot fewer jerry cans on one side." Kate saw Alexis's mattress was actually on the floor now instead of resting on jerry cans.

Alexis gave her a clue. "All the fresh water we have is in the Command and Control trailer. The cans on the left are water and the ones on the right are diesel. Both are for the hydrogen generator."

Kate pressed her hands against her face for a moment then looked at her. "How long?"

"The water? I've been filling cans every time we stop on a bridge or near water. The diesel," Alexis paused, "eight more days, maybe a little more. I planned for six weeks, not this."

"You've done great, Alexis. Better than the rest of us combined. We'd be dead without you. Is this why all the Gatorade?" Kate thought she understood why.

"Dad has all our fresh water to cook with even if he doesn't know it," Alexis admitted.

Kate drew a deep breath and asked the big question. "Are we going to make it?"

Alexis thought about it and began shaking her head. "Not with these Strykers. Not towing what we're towing. If we can get to Fort Campbell we can trade in these for something new." They were close they just had to get there.

"The last army base we were in you got infected and we don't have much in the way of defensive armaments anymore." Hunt didn't have his missiles and they were out of Semtex and grenades.

"We need to get moving." Alexis saw her dog who was squatting in the parking lot doing his business. "Come on, Bear, we're leaving."

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"Get off, left on Route 255, please," Alexis asked.

"I thought you said all roads lead into Nashville? So why get off?"

"They do mostly. Based on our mileage we can make it to here where we'll be staying for a while. Then we can unhook the hydrogen generator and leave it. We won't be needing it any more."

"And here I thought I was in charge." Kate smiled at her and kept driving.

"You made me navigator for a reason. I'm navigating," Alexis grinned and followed Kate's progress.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate came to a halt on the bridge and waited for Hunt to park next to them.

Alexis greeted Hunt and her grandmother. "This is the Cumberland River; our next stop is Fort Campbell."

"Home of the 101st Airborne. A very dangerous place for us," Hunt commented.

"We don't have a choice." Kate nodded at Alexis, meaning for her to continue.

"Our diesel's down to maybe eight days, about how long we will be here. It will fill our tanks and then we won't be able to make any more hydrogen," Alexis informed them.

Rick looked puzzled and was having a little trouble keeping up. "Alexis?"

"It takes water and diesel to make hydrogen, Dad. Water we have, though you have all of our fresh water in the trailer. What's in our Stryker is all we have left. You've noticed that my mattress is on the floor now instead of on jerry cans, haven't you?" Alexis questioned.

Rick stayed silent mostly because while he **had** noticed, he'd just been ignoring it. "So do we have a plan?"

"Fort Campbell." Hunt was keeping up. "We can't just go in and shoot the place up this time. We no longer have the firepower." He hated that part. "But a better question is can we make it on one tank of diesel from there?" Hunt asked and saw Alexis shake her head.

"The diesel will have gone bad everywhere by now. It's too far using a Stryker. Only the military uses hydrogen so we can't just take a car and drive it. All the gas has gone bad too." Alexis was full of bad news.

"Though…" Alexis was trying to remember something. Something someone had told her. "I need to talk to Captain Zimmerman. He said…something." She tilted her head as if that would help. "Something about how he was getting and storing his hydrogen. He's using semi-trailers with huge generators on them and trucks to hold the hydrogen they make."

She looked at Kate. "We need to get to Fort Campbell. I think they'll have all we need."

"Where are they now?" Kate asked, wondering if they could help.

"We can find out tonight," Alexis answered, speculating as to whether they were close enough to help them.


	36. Chapter 36

**Found - 20**

 _It has been 5 weeks and 3 days since leaving Disney_

"SSBN 826, this is Alexis. Are you online?" Alexis waited impatiently for Jarod to come on screen.

"Alexis, it's good to see you. You look a lot better. Just as pretty as ever." Jarod positively beamed at her.

"Thanks, I feel a lot better," she said with a shy smile.

"Our doctor's been waiting for you. Let me put him on." Jarod disappeared and an older man, even older than her dad or Hunt, sat down.

"Miss Alexis, I'm Doctor Bellinger. Can you take me through what happened as best you can?" He was full of questions and hope.

That had Alexis looking at Kate and they traded places. "I'm Kate Beckett. Alexis had infected blood on her: her arms mostly, a little on her face, and on her clothes. She was stripped naked and we scrubbed her using an antibacterial cleanser that we had handy. It was only much later that we remembered that we had medical supplies from an ambulance.

"We burned her clothes. She's allergic to penicillin so we used all the antibiotics that we'd taken from an ambulance. We also kept her warm, wrapped up in comforters. She had a temperature that topped out at 103 degrees for just shy of 3 days. And she vomited profusely those three days. We fed her chicken soup, made her drink water. We even ran a saline IV to keep her hydrated," Kate explained.

"And her stools? Any blood there or in her urine?" Doctor Bellinger inquired, busily taking notes.

Kate looked at Alexis. "Diarrhea at first. My stools have gotten more solid over time. I haven't seen any blood," Alexis answered a bit uncomfortably.

"And you're infection free. If you are indeed free of any infection we might be able to use your blood to look for antibodies. It might be just what we need to defeat this infection. Where are you now?" Doctor Bellinger was going to talk to the captain about how they could keep her alive no matter the risks.

"We're sitting on a bridge over the Cumberland River. We're getting ready to go into Fort Campbell. We're going to be out of diesel soon and without it, we can't make any more hydrogen. We need what's in Fort Campbell," Alexis told him and saw him turn to talk to someone.

"Our part of the convoy is on State Route 30 with most of us sitting just outside a small town called Glenwood. I'm not sure what the captain has in mind. Typically we send out teams to raid all the restaurants, convenience stores, and grocery stores we can see before leaving."

"That's too dangerous for us." Kate would be impressed if they could pull that off.

"We have a lot of fire power. So far it hasn't been a problem. How long before you plan on going into Fort Campbell?" How much ground could they cover in that time"

"Another six days sitting on this bridge then into Fort Campbell," Kate replied.

"I'll inform the captain and ask him to contact Fort Leonard Wood. I'm hopeful one of us can reach you. Can you delay longer than that?" Did they have more time?

Kate looked at Alexis who nodded. "We have drinks, more than enough food; we can stay if we have to if you trust staying on this bridge that long," Alexis affirmed.

"We can if we have to," Kate answered.

"I'll inform the captain." The doctor got up and was replaced by Jarod.

"Stay safe and don't be surprised if the captain asks you to stay there. Talk to you later." Jarod waved – it had become their thing, after all – and ended the transmission.

Kate turned to look at everyone. "That was interesting."

"You really think they'll come to us?" Martha asked, wondering if she could hope for such a thing.

"He seemed very interested in getting his hands on Alexis," Hunt commented.

" _Omega Man_ and _I_ _A_ _m Legend_ both ended with blood samples," Rick noted.

Kate shook her head. "This isn't a movie, babe."

Alexis called what Kate had said into question. "Isn't it? I mean, think about it. We're not infected and we're trying to reach a place that's free of infection. They want my blood because I recovered."

"So do we stay here?" Hunt asked.

"We have no choice since we need hydrogen. We'll wait six days and decide then." Kate watched their heads nod in agreement.

"Have we got food, Castle?" Kate inquired.

"It's all canned and dry goods. Chinese noodles, chili, tamales, soups of all kinds. More Spam, tuna, and pasta. We'll survive." Rick was sure he could come up with something for them to eat.

"That leaves drinks since we have very little fresh water." Kate glanced at Alexis, knowing she'd made provisions for them.

"There's lots of Gatorade, Powerade, and even bottled water. We can leave the hydrogen trailer behind now and go searching if we want. And come back after we find something," Alexis assured them.

"Then we wait six days and decide." Kate was willing. If it meant not going into a base crawling with infecteds with almost nothing, she was very willing.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

The very next night Alexis and the rest were in the Command and Control trailer.

"SSBN 826, this is Alexis, are you on line?"

"Alexis! I've called for the captain, give us a minute." They watched Jarod stand up, leaving the seat empty.

A moment later a winded Captain Zimmerman sat down. "Alexis, please tell me you haven't moved from yesterday." He needed them to still be there.

"We still need to make more hydrogen before we can go anywhere very far, so yes, we're still here," she replied.

"Good, I need to know if you can reach a town called Paris in Tennessee." The captain waited for her answer.

Alexis didn't understand. "I'll need my binder from the Stryker to know for sure," she said; Kate hurried out of the trailer and began running.

"What's in Paris, Tennessee?" Alexis still didn't understand. It sounded like a really small town.

"If you can reach it, what will be there is us. Well, a piece of us. We've broken up into three groups. If you can reach Paris I'm going to send one entire group to meet you there and escort you to Fort Leonard Wood. The rest of us will continue on to Fort Leonard Wood."

Hunt leaned in so his face was on the screen. "May I ask what one of your teams is made of?" He was hopeful but didn't want the captain screwing himself to do it.

"Each group has 51 to 52 men. Eight to nine Strykers of various types and capabilities, four old Bradleys that had been converted to hydrogen, 2 MTVRs, 8 to 10 M-35 2-1/2 ton trucks used mostly to hold supplies, 2 HEMTTs that each have a tank to hold the hydrogen we generate and one step deck trailer that holds a single hydrogen generator. We've learned that so long as we don't drain it dry it can use the hydrogen it makes to make more. Essentially self-generating.

"We send out teams to raid every town we stop in to fill our trucks and fill our jerry cans with water for the generator. We eat cold mostly," the captain added. "Unless we find a restaurant that runs on propane or if the gas is still working, then we do a little cooking but not much."

Kate came running back inside and handed Alexis her binder. "Paris, Tennessee." She started flipping pages.

"We have to go back the way we came a little and then head west on State Route 70 until we reach State Route 461 into Paris. We can do it. If the roads are clear we might even do it in one day though I'm betting two. It'll have us using up the hydrogen we generate to reach Fort Campbell. Not all of it, but about half or more." If they didn't show up they were screwed.

"Six days, give us six days. I'll order my XO to meet you there in six days. He can fill your Strykers and you can join his group for the trip to Fort Leonard Wood. Six days." The captain began praying silently.

"Keep your Command and Control trailer and you can talk to us in ours. We have the same trailer you do but just the one that I'm keeping with me," the captain said.

"Six days?" Alexis looked at everyone. "A day or two to get there. We might have enough to get back here if we have to."

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"Turn left onto Route 12, please," Alexis asked after consulting her binder.

"Stop, stop, stop!" she suddenly exclaimed and as much as Kate wanted to slam on the brakes, it wasn't a good idea so she slowed down as fast as she dared.

"What?" Kate hadn't seen anything.

"The building a little behind us and to the right said Army National Guard. Is there anything we want or need? We don't have a lot," Alexis said.

"Hunt–" Kate was willing to ask him but was interrupted by him.

"I see it. Probably won't have an anti-tank missile, however, they **are** likely to have some .50 Cal ammo. A possible bonus is that the National Guard would have been part of the first responders so it's quite probable that it's empty." He meant of infecteds.

"Ammunition." Kate liked it and pressed the button to let Rick and Bear out while she popped her top and climbed out followed by Alexis.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate was happy now that Hunt was happy. She had even let him load their .50 Cal. With all the ammunition they had gotten. "All done." Hunt closed the top and went back to his Stryker feeling a lot better.

"Stop, Kate." Alexis had spotted another store.

"Now what?" Kate hadn't seen a thing.

"Ashland City Liquor and Wine." She'd popped her top and pointed. "We made Hunt happy, now maybe we can make Grams and Dad happy. …And you and maybe me."

Grams was soon carrying a case of wine that she'd found while Rick had selected a six-pack. Kate had found a few bottles of tequila and Alexis had gotten her own case of wine. Hunt walked out with a case of beer.

"Thank you, Alexis." Martha would have kissed her if her hands weren't full of wine.

"You're welcome, Grams. And don't you dare give Bear any beer, Dad." Alexis put her case down and went back outside to climb into her seat.

"Waste beer on a dog? Yeah, I don't think so." Rick had no intention of sharing.

"If you see a Starbucks let me know," Kate asked Alexis who just smiled back.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"Sycamore Creek." Alexis started looking at her binder.

"Now what?" Kate stopped at a tee in the road.

"Left on Route 76, please." Alexis began looking ahead in her binder.

They were on 76 for a while. Then, "Left on Route 13. There's the Cumberland River. We can stop here if you want. We have another two days before we have to make it to Paris," Alexis remarked. "Plus I could use a bathroom break."

"Hunt, we're stopping here for the night." Kate slowed and stopped in the middle of the bridge.

Alexis was walking back with Bear right next to her. "There's a storm coming if you want to move a little." She gestured to the black clouds behind them and they noticed the trees were being blown.

Kate pulled forward until she saw something even better. "Food Lion." She was smiling from ear to ear.

"Lucky us." Alexis started smiling and watched as Kate pulled up right out front with Hunt next to her.

"More food, more drink. Keep your eyes open and your ears. If Bear starts barking, run for the Strykers," Kate told all of them.

An hour later each traveler was emptying their last cart into a Stryker. "That place stunk more than the last one," Alexis grumbled, dropping one of the several big bags of dog food that she had picked up for Bear along with a couple of cases of canned. He was getting bigger and was eating more.

"It was the meat and chicken that had gone bad. That and all the cheese, milk, and cooked food. Just think what the inside of the walk-ins smell like," Kate said with a shudder.

Alexis made a face. "I'll pass." She didn't even want to imagine it.

"Dinner, Castle?" Kate inquired now that he had more bottled water to work with.

While they were busy with the preparations, Alexis made her call. "SSBN 826, this is Alexis. Are you online?"

"Alexis! Glad to hear from you. Where are you? Are you in Paris?" Jarod hoped she was.

"We're on Route 13 over the Cumberland River. We stopped a few times. One was at a National Guard Base that we ran across. Another was a beer and wine store and now we're parked outside a Food Lion where we got a lot of things. We'll make Paris tomorrow."

"Before Morrison gets there, that's good. I'll inform the captain. I presume you've had no trouble." Alexis hadn't said anything.

"We have Bear to tell us if there are any infecteds around. He's a good boy." Alexis reached down to pet him when he came to her after hearing his name.

"We haven't seen any dogs that aren't infected. You're lucky. What does he think of seafaring men?" Jarod questioned.

Alexis tried to hide her smile. "He likes naval officers."

"Good, talk to you tomorrow." Jarod ended the transmission and high fived the guy next to him.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"Right on Route 149, please," Alexis asked Kate.

"Hilltop Supermarket." Alexis chuckled as she airily waved a hand at it.

"Lake Barkley." Alexis took a peek as did Kate.

"Elk Creek." Alexis started looking at her binder.

"Which way?" Kate stopped at another tee intersection.

"Right on Route 49." Alexis went back to looking forward from here.

"That's a lot of water to our right." Kate had noticed they'd been traveling next to water for a while.

"Cross Creek National Wildlife Refuge. I think that body of water was Pool Five. We're going to lose it soon," Alexis commented.

Kate drove over three small bridges and came to another tee intersection and stopped. "Left on US Route 79, please. This will take us straight into Paris, so no more turns." Alexis put her binder away since she doubted she would need it again.

"I'm getting a lot of residences. The outskirts of Paris, I'm guessing?" Kate wondered and Alexis nodded.

"Market Street. Welcome to downtown Paris, Tennessee," Alexis announced. They had arrived.

"Now what? I'm not parking here." This place looked like it could be dangerous at night.

"Straight. There's a bridge over a rail line ahead; we can try there," Alexis suggested. Kate drove straight until she reached the bridge.

"This will do." Kate stopped and popped her top to look around. "Housing, trees, and I think I see a train station not far away. It has a lot of rail cars. On second thought, maybe we should keep looking." All those rail cars just screamed infecteds to her.

"Right, I'm guessing." Alexis asked for Kate to go slow. "There! I see a large parking lot behind this row of buildings. Maybe the end of these buildings?"

"Henry Farmers Co-op." Alexis read the sign before Kate turned left and they found that it opened up into a massive almost empty parking lot.

"Perfect." Kate liked this spot a lot better. There was nothing around them.

Kate pressed the button and let Rick and Bear out. Bear found a light pole and lifted his leg.

"Sunset's in about 4-1/2 hours; let's look around," Kate proposed and they broke up into two groups just like how they traveled together.

Alexis used her headset. "There's a wine and liquor store down here, Grams."

"On my way," Martha responded, dragging Hunt with her.

"EW James and Sons Supermarket," Kate noted.

"We may raid that tomorrow," Alexis said.

Rick stepped in behind Kate and wrapped his arms around her. "You happy yet?"

"I'll be a lot more happy when we make it to Fort Leonard Woods. But yeah, I'm happy. I've got you." Kate spun around and kissed him deeply.

"You shouldn't do that." Rick was finding that Kate in his arms was arousing and he was starting to get an erection.

"I'll take care of you, Castle." Kate kissed him again.

"I want my own room when we get there. Between you guys and Grams I'm going to need a whole lot of counseling," Alexis commented as she and Bear walked past them.

"You have Jarod," Kate countered and went back to kissing Castle. Alexis ignored her and just kept walking. She saw Martha and Hunt carrying another case of something toward their Stryker.

"Do you give good kisses, Bear?" Alexis leaned down to kiss his head and began to get her face washed. "I said kisses not a bath," she laughed. "Let's go find your tennis ball." They had a huge open parking lot to play in.

At the mention of his favorite toy, Bear wheeled around and barked. That, however, caused an unintended reaction. Rick and Kate ran their way, weapons drawn, only to find Alexis throwing a yellow tennis ball that Bear was busy chasing.

"GOD! For a minute there I thought infecteds had adapted to the sunlight." Kate willed her heart to slow down.

"Bite your tongue." Rick couldn't think of anything worse.

"Still not sorry you followed me through a door?" Kate asked him.

"Not for a second. I'm already trying to figure out how we can do it again after this life." Rick smiled slowly and moved in to embrace her. "We still need to get married in this life." He kissed her deeply to silence her reply.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"SSBN 826, this is Alexis. Are you online?" Alexis had waited until late in the day and would need to run for their Stryker after this.

"Hi Alexis, where are you?" Jarod needed information so he could pass it on to his XO.

"We're a couple of blocks north of the intersection of Route 69 and 54 on Route 69. We're in a huge parking lot behind Henry Farmers Co-op. There's an open view for yards around. We even have a little diesel to make hydrogen with." Alexis was a bit amazed about that.

"We're running really low on fresh water but we have a lot of Gatorade, Powerade, and water in bottles that might still be good. Plenty of canned food. We even still have propane to cook with." They were down to two bottles but it should last for a while.

"I'll pass all that along. Expect them sometime tomorrow. I'll know better after I talk to them. Help **is** coming. Gotta go." Jarod waved and ended the transmission. He had someone else to talk with tonight.

Alexis shut down and they all ran for their Strykers.

"How long a trip is it? To reach the base, I mean?" Rick queried as he lowered his bed into position.

"About two days, maybe three at our speed if the road's clear. The trick is getting across the Mississippi River." Alexis had left that part out.

"You have **got** to be shitting me!" Kate sat down instead of climbing into her bed.

"We've always been on the east side and need to get to the west side." Alexis didn't understand how either of them didn't know that. Did they not know their own country?


	37. Chapter 37

**Found - 21**

They didn't usually have breakfast in an attempt to make their food last longer since it was taking longer than anticipated. However, they did today. Mostly because while they waited they were going to raid that supermarket across the street from the liquor store that Martha and Hunt had already raided.

"What exactly was that?" Kate asked even though she had eaten two of them.

"Pancakes." Rick put on his _please don't shoot me_ face, because he didn't have any eggs or milk. He had used oil instead.

Kate tilted her head from side to side a little. They hadn't been bad, they just weren't up to his normal standards and she had gotten used to him cooking. "Let's check out that supermarket, shall we?" She got up and checked her weapon.

But the second they reached the front door Bear started barking. "Do we or don't we?" Kate questioned and looked at everyone.

Rick offered his choice. "Our food will last for far longer than 2 days, so we don't have to."

"There could be only one of them," Hunt commented. As much as he had learned to trust Bear, he didn't know if there was one or a whole building full of them.

Alexis shared her opinion. "We could wait for our help to show up. They may want to raid it before leaving here. They did say that they raid everything they find each day."

Decision made, they headed back to their Strykers to wait it out.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Alexis was outside throwing a tennis ball, playing with Bear. He was happy that his best buddy was playing with him and he was running and barking. The day of his shots was long forgotten.

"You want the ball? You want this ball? Go get it." Alexis threw it to the far end of the parking lot and watched it bounce. Bear was running for all he was worth and was soon trotting back, happy with himself. Alexis reached for the ball in his mouth but Bear wasn't willing to just hand it over this time. "You have to give it back if you want me to throw it," she told him only to find him biting down on the ball to keep it. It turned into a short tug of war until the dog finally let go. He started barking and spinning in place. His buddy was now supposed to throw it.

"ALEXIS!" Kate motioned for her to keep quiet for a moment. Alexis chose to throw the ball and Bear bounded after it.

"Do you hear something?" Kate stepped over to her and started looking around.

Even Bear ignored his ball and stopped to look in the direction of a noise. Then he started barking. His barking voice had changed and hearing it, the others joined them.

"I'm manning the .50 Cal just in case." Hunt went into the Stryker, opened the top, and prepared the machine gun.

They all listened to Bear barking as he came back to defend his best buddy; the noise was also getting louder. It seemed to be coming from their right and they turned their heads until they were all looking at the back end of the Co-op. Then suddenly a Stryker came into view; it rolled into their parking lot and just kept coming. There was another one right behind it.

They all saw that both had their .50 Cals manned and watched the men wave at them as the drivers popped their tops and stood up.

"Miss Alexis." He looked right at her. "I'm Chief Warrant Officer Brown, it's good to finally meet you. Are you good to go, because we would really like to get going." He didn't want to stay here any longer than he had to.

Kate had a question. "Where are the rest of you?"

"About 2 miles behind us. We're the advance scout for the column. We would really like to keep it that way. If you will just follow us, please." He wanted to stay way out in front. "How are you on hydrogen?" If they needed some his plan was busted.

"About 3/4 full for each." Alexis had been keeping track.

"Excellent, if you will follow us." He got back down into his seat and dropped his top.

"Let's go guys. Out of my Stryker, Hunt." Kate climbed up to get in.

Moments later she turned left and started following Brown. "Where are we?" She still wanted Alexis to keep track and tell her where to turn.

"North on Route 69; we're going the right way," Alexis assured her and began watching where they were going instead. "The big question is have they considered how to get over the river." They had time since it was countless miles away.

Alexis read a sign and picked up her binder again to see where they were. "Walnut Fork Creek. Still going the right way." She put her binder back down.

"Obion River." She picked up her binder again only to put it back down and say nothing.

They came to a tee intersection and Kate turned left to follow them. She had to admit that they traveled at a good speed. A little more than they normally did. The only time they slowed down was to push a truck further off the road.

This direction didn't last long when they turned right just a few blocks later.

"North on Route 97. Still going the right way," Alexis informed Kate and tucked her binder by her side.

"I wish we had a way to talk to them. I'd like to know where we are going. I mean, why this way and not another?" Kate hated being in the dark.

Alexis shrugged. "They're military. And we have fire department headsets."

Kate looked at Alexis when they took a left branch at a fork in the road. "Left on Route 121." Alexis flipped through some pages. "Looks like we are headed for a town called Wickliffe. They have a bridge over the Mississippi River to the north. We might stop there since it's getting late." She kept her binder this time.

Alexis answered Kate's unspoken question when they turned right. "US Route 62."

Suddenly they both turned right and went into a large parking lot with a small building at the far end. "Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site," Alexis remarked after looking in her binder.

"It looks like we're stopping here." Kate pulled in behind the first two and stopped. She only shut down when she saw the ramp open up and four men came out, all armed, from each Stryker.

"We're stopping here for the night to allow the column to catch up to us. We're going to go clean out this building before they arrive," the chief warrant officer explained.

"Come on, Bear," Alexis called, waiting for him come to her after he'd lifted his leg on a bush.

"I need you to stay here, Miss." He didn't want Alexis going with them.

"Bear hates infecteds. If there are any in there he'll bark and alert you," Alexis explained and kept walking.

"It works, trust me." Kate saw the look on his face. He was conflicted about whether to allow her to go or to try and stop her.

It had him and his men hustling to catch up. "You do **not** go inside until the building is clear." That was one thing he was not going to allow her to do.

Bear started barking at the front door. "There's at least one," Alexis told them and took Bear back to their Stryker.

A moment later they all heard a fair number of weapons firing for just a moment and then silence until finally they all came back out. "Clear, though it has nothing we want. The XO will likely raid the BBQ joint across the street including that trading post we passed." He pointed to a building that they could see that was at the bend in the road.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"That's what I wish we were capable of. We're just too small and don't have enough firepower." Hunt was a little envious as he watched most of them go back to their Strykers.

A moment later the chief warrant officer approached Alexis and Bear, Kate, and Rick. "The column will be here in a few minutes. They'll park in the parking lot. One team will start filling our vehicles, including yours. Another will empty what the hydrogen generator has been making into our holding tanks. And another will clean out that BBQ place and that trading post.

"You're free to eat what you have or join us…or both. Excuse me." He still had things to do before the column caught up to them.

"Is Jarod with you?" Alexis called after him.

That cause him to stop and he smiled. "He's in our Command and Control trailer with the captain. Just like the one you have. You can talk to him in a few hours after they stop for the day." He was still smiling as he walked away.

"He's nice," Alexis muttered defensively after seeing the looks Kate and her dad were giving her. She decided to get away and stalked off to their Command and Control trailer.

"You think…?" Rick was ready to consider raking this Jarod guy over the coals to see if he was good enough for his daughter.

"Do **not** get involved, Castle. Remember, Alexis only looks like she's 16. Under all that teenage youthfulness there's a 70 to 80-year-old woman who was married and had two boys. That she lost. So don't give her any grief and _leave Jarod alone."_ Kate poked him and followed Alexis into the trailer.

"And spoil all my fun?" Rick didn't think so. "Just because I didn't get to say anything the last time," he grumbled. He had to catch up on what he missed out on.

Kate was inside the trailer with Alexis. "Your father's going to give you and Jarod a piece of his mind, you know that." She'd tried to stop him but she knew him well.

"I know. I'm betting Jarod has a weapon just like mine." Alexis tapped the hand gun at her hip. "Dad means well, but I'll survive." She began searching through what they had to eat since she was hungry.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

The sound of engines had all of them going outside while Rick turned down the heat so dinner didn't burn.

They watched as vehicles of all types and sizes rumbled into the parking lot. Strykers, trucks, things Kate had never seen before and one massive trailer that had a huge box on it. "A hydrogen generator, I'm guessing?" Kate asked softly.

"Yep, far too big for us. And to think they have three of those things." Alexis was all smiles as they watched them park all over the parking lot while leaving space for the semi to maneuver.

The second they each stopped, men started pouring out and they watched as a team carrying collapsible stacking containers ran to the BBQ building while a few more men went to the trucks with large tanks on the back where they pulled hoses from each one and started filling their vehicles.

One of the men who got out of the semi walked over to them and the corporal met him at the small group of Disney travelers.

"Miss Alexis." He reached out to shake her hand. "Jarod's description doesn't do you justice." Just for a moment he wished he was younger.

Alexis was older than she looked and wasn't nearly as bashful as she had been when she really was just 16 years old. "Thanks." She glanced around. "This is a big group."

"Fifty-one men. We have two more columns just like this one that continued on. If we're lucky we'll meet them there just as they get there. I take it you've met Chief Warrant Officer Brown, here. He's our scout for the column. I'm Matt Morrison, the XO. The captain sends his regards. Speaking of which, if you'll excuse me for a minute." He gave them a slight bow and moved to a Stryker.

"He needs to check in," Brown explained. "A few of our Strykers have communication gear inside them. I'm betting much like yours." Their Stryker looked a lot like the one Kate had been driving. He had a question. "Are either of your units loaded?"

"Our Stryker has a full load of .50 Cal. Hunt's antitank gun is empty. We used them all," Kate answered.

"PETTY OFFICER BOND! That Stryker needs an antitank missile. Hook 'em up," he yelled, pointing at one of the men that was still standing near one of the trucks.

"Yes, sir." It might be work for him and the other guy in his truck, but if it meant they now had two more Strykers that were armed to the teeth, he was happy.

"I'll help." Hunt left them to help unload the case and load up his missile launcher. These guys were Navy and this was an Army vehicle.

Morrison was back moments later as they watched the sun begin to get lower, signaling the end of the day. "The captain and Jarod send their regards. I would like you right in front of our hydrogen generator, if you please, when we leave in the morning. We lose that thing and we're all in big trouble." He meant stranded with not much help near them.

"Gladly. Do you and your men have time to eat? Castle needs to finish cooking for us before we run to our Strykers," Kate said.

"We have a small team that's already handing out what we have for tonight. If that BBQ place is still functional we may be leaving a little late in the morning. The cooking section in your trailer isn't large enough for all of us. You should be eating. We leave at sunup." Morrison excused himself and took what he was handed to eat.

The sun was down and after eating, Kate, Alexis and Bear, Rick, Hunt, and Martha all ran for their Strykers.

Kate was stripping down for the night. "I wonder where that many men sleep?" She didn't get it. They had a lot more people.

"Their Strykers is my guess. We use ours for sleeping and storage. Their storage is in the back of trucks. Plus they might have something we haven't seen yet." They only had eight Strykers for 51 men.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

They woke to the sound of someone pounding on their Stryker. They hurriedly put on enough clothes to open up.

"The BBQ place still has gas so we can cook, if you care to join us?" Chief Petty Officer Brown invited. "I'd like to say we have steaks or brisket but what we do have is a lot of canned meat." He left them and ran to the BBQ building.

The sun wasn't all the way up just yet but Rick packed some of their Spam cans and followed everyone else.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"You realize we have to cross the Mississippi River next." Alexis was a little concerned.

"Yes, Miss, and the chief petty officer will inform us if there's a problem that he can't solve. When or if that happens then we will find an alternate route. But I have faith. Shall we go?" He motioned for them to enter their Stryker. "Chief Petty Officer Brown and his team have already left and are likely at the bridge already."

Minutes later Kate, Alexis, and Rick crossed the Mississippi River, not just once but twice, and they did find cars on the bridge. "I think he drives a lot like you do." Alexis was betting that she saw new dents in a few of the cars.

They'd no sooner crossed the river when they got off. "Please tell me they aren't thinking what I think they are?" Kate watched the lead vehicles drive into a parking lot for a Walmart Supercenter.

"They do have firepower," Alexis reminded her. But much to the surprise of both of them they stopped at a China Buffet.

They watched as the seamen dismounted; half went into the China Buffet while the other half went across the street. "Colton's Steak House and Grill?" These guys were doing things they had never even thought of doing.

"The power has been out for months. What do they hope to find?" Kate didn't get it. If anything they should be taking that Walmart apart.

Still they watched as each group came back with full boxes and they were back on the road again. "We are so finding out what they got." Kate wanted answers and didn't see Alexis nod.

"They're getting on US Route 60." Alexis started flipping through her binder.

"Right on Route 17." Alexis had her nose back in her binder.

Kate slowed down and halted behind the other vehicles that had stopped. It looked like they were in the middle of a town. She and Alexis popped their tops to look around.

Kate read the big sign on the big building. "Texas County Food Pantry Inc. Do you need help?" she yelled at the first person to get close.

"Can you man your weapons just in case, Ma'am?" He formed up with the others.

"I'll do it. Warn Hunt." Alexis went back down, squeezed herself into the back, and then up to man the .50 Cal.

Moments later they heard a whole lot of weapons fire that came in spurts. Thirty minutes later they saw man after man carrying case after case of food out the door, loading it into several of the trucks.

"Thank you for your support and waiting for us." Morrison nodded gratefully and ran for his ride.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate stopped when she saw Morrison standing in front of a Stryker, waving his arms. She and Alexis popped their tops and stood up.

"Chief Petty Officer Brown has come in contact with four Strykers sent from Fort Leonard Wood. Two of them are going with him as front guard; we're going to pass the other two who are going to act as our rear guard. We're almost there, ladies," Morrison yelled. He then ran for his Stryker and hurried up the back ramp.

"We made it?" Alexis looked at Kate like it was an impossibility. The middle of Florida to the middle of Missouri while surrounded by infecteds that wanted to kill them.


	38. Chapter 38

**Found - 22**

 **Epilogue**

 _It has been five years since last time we saw our heroes. It had taken them 6 weeks and 6 days to reach their destination._

~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~

"I'm home, Castle! Are you here?" He wasn't always home when she got home from work, however, today was a special day so she was counting on him being there.

"In the kitchen," was the answer she got.

She took off her weapon in its holster, her cuffs, and everything else she'd been carrying since getting the job. It kind of felt like old times. She even pulled and pulled to get her boots off.

"What are you doing in the…" Kate stopped, pressed her hands to her mouth, and started laughing while tears ran down her face.

He had decorated the entire kitchen and even had food on the table. It looked like her favorite. There was a banner hanging across the ceiling. Balloons were littering the floor; he had even lit just about every candle they had and had them spread out all over.

"Welcome home, Mom." Rick smiled a wide smile, pleased that he'd managed to surprise her.

"Rick this is… this is…" She didn't know what. Though she did know that he loved her.

~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~

They had gotten married the second they had gotten out of quarantine. The entire crew of the submarine had been invited along with Hunt, Martha, and Alexis, of course. Kate was now officially Mrs. Castle and it felt great.

It had been six long months in quarantine before they'd been released. They had all spent it in a military barracks that had been emptied just for them. The "them" included the crew of SSBN 826.

Every day Alexis had been officially asked, though they weren't really asking for her to come with them so she could give them yet another blood sample.

"Blood sample, Alexis; skin sample, Alexis. If, IF I live long enough I'm going to run out of samples," Alexis had complained one day then flopped dramatically down on her cot.

The sight of her doing that had everyone in the barracks laughing their asses off. Kate was wiping her tears away from laughing so hard. "You'll live, Alexis." Kate knew her line.

"Yeah, I'll live. But I won't enjoy it," she pouted. Everyone including Kate was back to laughing their asses off. Alexis finally couldn't hold it in any longer and began laughing herself.

~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~

"I know you can't have coffee so I made you some tea. I stole it from Mother," Rick added softly.

Kate walked across and into him and let him hold her as best he could. "I love you, Castle." She had been telling him every chance she got since they had gotten here.

"I love you, too. And how is our little tadpole today? Is he kicking like crazy?" Rick placed a hand on her obvious belly given that she was just over 8 months pregnant.

"Are we going to have this argument again? It's a her, Castle." They had argued a little the last time she had gotten pregnant with Lily.

"Yes, so just get used to it," Rick argued. They had doctors and they even had a hospital. But they had chosen to be surprised just like last time.

"Ready for your maternity leave celebration dinner?" Rick asked her; Kate looked at the table.

"I'm only eating for two, Castle. We may not know the sex but the doctor said there was only one baby." The table was full except there was something else. "Why are there four plates?" Kate looked askance at him. Rick was saved by the doorbell and retreated quickly to answer it.

"Hi, Kate." Alexis walked in with her husband Jarod right behind her along with Bear who was bigger and older.

"Alexis." Now Kate knew who the other plates were for. Alexis headed straight for Kate and placed her hand on her belly. "And how is my little sister?"

"Sleeping, I think, which is a good thing since I would like to keep my bladder," Kate half laughed.

"You think she would like a little baby brother or sister?" Alexis snuck in a clue but would Kate catch it?

"I haven't even given birth to this one and you want me pregnant again?" Nope, Kate hadn't caught it.

Kate tilted her head and stared at Alexis; the younger woman was too quiet. "NO! _You're pregnant?"_

"WHAT! Who's pregnant?" Rick had been greeting and talking to Jarod until then. Now he was looking between his daughter and her husband.

"There aren't any pills available yet and we ran out of condoms, so guess what?" Alexis spread her arms wide.

"Oh, Alexis!" Kate moved in and hugged her. "I'm happy for you. You've started a… family." Kate caught herself before she said the word _new._ No one but them knew how they'd come to this world, not even Jarod.

"Pregnant." Rick swooped her up into his arms and twirled them. Alexis giggled and Jarod breathed again. "Let's celebrate!" He motioned to all the food he'd prepared.

Alexis actually ate more than Kate did or anyone else, for that matter. "Anyone remember when we ate straight from the can?" Jarod questioned before he took a drink.

"We still don't have any fresh meat." Rick moaned; he was ready for a nice, fat, juicy steak. What livestock in the area had either escaped when the virus hit or had died because there was no one to care for them. Even the chickens had died, penned in their coop.

"They have a plan, Castle, give them time." Kate wanted one almost as bad as he did.

"They only just started leaving the doors open during the day, Dad. It's going to take time, lots of time." Alexis was glad for the change and had even argued for the change.

"There are still millions of infecteds and that's just in our country," Jarod pointed out.

"They're only developing shots for those of us that are still clean. I haven't heard a thing about them trying to reverse the effect." Alexis should know. Her past life in the medical field meant she was one of the few there that had that much medical knowledge.

Kate sat back and placed both hands on her belly. "What are you thinking?" Rick was sure he could see her wheels turning.

"Just thinking about the wall they built to surround the base and the closest town. I was thinking it would be small, thanks to the time they had to build it." She was still impressed by just how big it was.

"Concrete for the first six feet followed by two sections of wood, one built above the other, for another eighteen feet." Jarod had been drafted to help them finish it after getting out of quarantine. "Did you know they took the next closest city apart to get the material to build it? They built their own concrete plant inside the wall to make all the concrete. It would be taller except they realized early on that the diesel would go bad." It meant the concrete trucks would stop rolling.

Alexis reached over to Jarod. "You and your fellow crew members are still the only people we know about who are infection free that live in the States."

"True, but we do know that we're not alone," Jarod remarked. "We left the boat and our communication equipment behind. The base has been trying to find people for years. They found an entire aircraft carrier group that had been deployed far from here at the time. They in turn have managed to find individual groups much like we had been."

Rick nodded. "I heard. It's sad that there are so few of us. That one carrier group, some individual submarines, and not much else. I'm still a little surprised." The infection had spread worldwide.

"Until we can reach or at least contact everywhere, we don't know for sure." Jarod still held out a little hope. There were a lot of smaller islands that didn't have regular service by jet plane.

"Are you two planning on moving when they allow it?" Kate asked Jarod and Alexis.

"We've talked about it some. I don't think we've made up our minds yet." Alexis reached for his hand. "The number of infecteds has gone way down in the last few years. Jarod's had his shot but that doesn't mean they won't kill you." They were thinking that until they came up with a plan to guarantee security they would stay within the wall.

"What about you two? Any plans on moving? Like after the baby?" Her dad and Kate were likely more brave than they were.

Kate looked at Rick. "We've talked about it."

Rick cleared his throat. "We've put in a request for a house we saw. We've toured it and it's in amazingly good shape. Four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a huge backyard that I'm not looking forward to taking care of. It's only drawback is that it's a little isolated."

"We can find you a riding lawn mower from somewhere," Kate teased and smiled softly, trying to hide it.

"If you'll excuse me for a minute, need to use the bathroom." Jarod stood up and left them.

"Are you planning on telling him?" Kate questioned Alexis once he was out of earshot.

"I haven't decided yet. I mean, how do you tell the person you're married to that you're actually older than his mother. Even if you don't look it." Alexis knew she was old and yet the person in the mirror looked young.

"Your call, pumpkin. But if he's as smart as you say, he's going to start asking questions," Rick warned.

"If he hasn't already," Kate said.

"He's asked a few. Grams looks young, too young to have given birth to Dad. Then there's me calling you _dad._ It doesn't add up. For now he's just happy with the way things are. I'll probably have no choice soon." Alexis wasn't sure how he was going to take it.

"If he loves you, he'll listen." Kate was willing to give him some credit.

"And if he doesn't I'll shoot him," Rick grinned, since he was teasing.

"I wonder who has my job in the Void," Alexis mentioned since they were on this topic.

"Are you thinking what I think you are?" Kate inquired.

"We die and he or she sends us all through the same door again. What are the odds? But yeah, I've wondered. I don't want to die but I don't fear it nearly as much, knowing what comes next. Even if next time I don't remember my previous life and start out as an infant again.

"I mean how many lives do we all get anyway. Do we suddenly die and find that we've run out of doors and I don't mean because we've gone through all those doors. Just how many doors do we get to choose?" The number of doors might be endless but how many doors do they get to use?

"I may have used up all my doors, then." Kate had gone through more doors than any of them.

Rick was all set to counter her thinking when the sound of Jarod coming back cut him short.

Jarod sat down. "I'll be glad when they get that sewage treatment plant operational again."

"That and the pump house," Kate added since they also didn't have running water yet.

Though the phones did work and theirs started ringing so Rick got up to answer it.

"Have you got pictures of this house that you're thinking about?" Alexis asked Kate.

"In the tablet." Kate pointed at it and Jarod got up to get it for her.

Alexis only just started to look when Rick came back. "We have to go. Mother's gone into labor," he announced.

Kate groaned as she got up. "We can take our car and leave yours plugged in," Jarod offered since the only public cars were all electric.

~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~

"Remind me again how old your grandmother is?" Jarod asked while they waited.

Alexis was spared having to answer for now when Hunt showed up. "She just went into labor. They told me to get out and come back later. Though technically that last part was from the nurse." Hunt sat down heavily into an empty chair. "I've done a lot but no one told me about this part." He knew pain but didn't know this pain.

"You should try being the one that actually gives birth," Kate said, trying to help make him feel better.

"You should try…" Hunt looked at Alexis and leaned in toward Kate. "Lying in a pool of mud filled with your own urine, waiting for your target to show himself. In the rain while freezing to death." He sat back and let her think that over.

Kate thought about that. "And Martha married you?" She did her best to keep her poker face.

Hunt struck back. "You married my son. Again!"

Rick took exception to that. "I can hear you, you know."

"And what happened to the Richard that grew up in the 1800s? He became a man. What happened to that guy?" His son had turned himself into a _yes ma'am_ to Kate. A pussy whipped asshole.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" Jarod whispered to Alexis.

"My family is… weird." Alexis had known this day would come. She just didn't think it would be in a hospital waiting room. She watched him get up to go get a drink of water from a water cooler.

"Castle is… Well, it's complicated." Kate looked at Rick and began seeing the changes. Was she the cause of them? Had she been too controlling?

"I'm sorry, Rick, I didn't mean to… We need to talk after this." They really needed to go back to talking.

A nurse appeared at Jackson's side. "Mr. Hunt, it's time."

"That was fast." Alexis was envious. Her sons had each taken her hours to birth.

" _We are_ _so_ _talking about_ _everything_ _when we get home_ _,_ _"_ Jarod informed her sternly. He handed her a glass of water and Kate put in a request since he was up.

"He's either going to want to divorce me or have me committed." Alexis held her head in her free hand, placed her elbows on her legs, and bent over.

~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~[o]~ ~ **X** ~

Kate drove her car up her driveway and parked out front. She grabbed the cord and plugged it in before going inside.

Their house was surrounded by woods and they couldn't see a neighbor.

 _This one of a kind all brick house has over 5002 sq ft and_ _is_ _in the Waynesville school district on 15+ acres. Enter the front door into the spacious entry way. Be amazed at the huge living area with its wood floors and mesmerizing ceilings and large windows and gas fireplace. Entertain guests and make family meals in the chef_ _'_ _s kitchen which features white appliances, an island, breakfast bar, double ove_ _ns,_ _and ceramic tile floors. Off of the kitchen there is the sun room with glass windows all the way around_ _,_ _letting you take in the breathtaking wooded views. Enjoy the privacy of your own personal home theater with a built_ _-_ _in area for your TV and home theater equipment. The spacious master bedroom features large matching his and her walk-in closets, and high, beautiful ceilings. The master bedroom has his and her sinks, corner jetted tub, and a large walk-in shower. Both downstairs bedrooms have their own full bath and private deck. There is a Jack Nicklaus putting green in the yard._

They had inherited all the furniture that came with the house. Not everything was to her liking but she could live with it. But who knows, maybe some day in the future they could make changes.

Kate headed to the master bedroom where she stripped off everything and changed into something far more comfortable. Next she went to the kitchen.

"Hi, James." Kate stepped in behind him and kissed his head. "Soup, huh? Where's your father and your brothers?" She went to check on the soup on the stove top.

"Out back practicing," James answered, continuing to eat.

"Still not to your liking, I take it." He had stated his displeasure at using a bow to hunt with. "You take after your sister."

Kate decided not to ladle out a bowl just yet and started walking so she could see out back. "Are you and Alexis still planning on going tomorrow?" Hunting was one way to add meat to their diet.

The people who did the hunting got to pick the cuts they wanted while the rest was added to city reserves. There really was no limit to how much or how often you could hunt yet, though there was talk about it.

Kate stood there and watched as Rick supervised their other two sons shoot a bow. They had a number of targets to choose from. Rick had taken the time to build a fake deer. He'd even worked out a way to make it move so that it wasn't a static target.

She watched her boys shooting at a standing target a long way off. "They're getting better." She was proud of all three of her sons. "How far do you and Alexis typically take shots at?" she inquired while continuing to watch.

"The farthest has been about a mile. It was that bear," James replied like it had been no big deal.

Kate remembered that bear meat. It hadn't been what she was expecting. But then a lot of the meat that made up their diet wasn't what she was used to. Her husband and children came back with whatever they could find.

"Just be careful, James. Don't make me arrest you because you shot someone." It would break her heart if she had to do that.

"We're careful, Mom." James had no intention of shooting someone and he wasn't shooting alone yet.

"I know you are. I'm just saying that accidents happen. You and Alexis aren't the only ones out there hunting." Kate decided to join him; she scooped out a bowl full and sat down at the breakfast bar next to him.

"We're wearing our vests and we always look twice before taking the shot. Have you seen her weapon?" James was still impressed at not just that a girl could do this but at her weapon of choice.

"Her Rad Tek rifle? Yeah, your father and I watched her practice when she was younger before we drove here from Disney." Kate hadn't understood why she had chosen that weapon. It wasn't until they were out of quarantine that they were all assigned positions either on the wall or at one of the gates.

Alexis had added a night scope she had gotten from the base. She'd positioned herself on the wall and had started shooting infecteds that were over a mile away and had earned herself a reputation during those early years.

"Walt Disney World." James sighed. "Do you think we'll ever get to go there." He and his brothers had listened to the stories their parents, Alexis, Martha, and even Jackson had told them about getting from there to here.

"You know your father. The second they say the place is open he'll have all of us out there as fast as he can." She looked at her son. "What's in this soup?" She couldn't quite place it.

"Possum, I think. He shrugged. "Maybe rabbit." James didn't care; the soup had meat in it.

Kate went back to eating while trying to place the meat with this information.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

Kate was finishing putting moisturizer on her body before walking unclothed to the bed where Rick was already waiting for her.

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." He watched every step she made and opened his arms to her.

"Talk like that might earn you a reward tonight." Kate smiled since she enjoyed making love to her husband.

"What's wrong?" Rick knew his wife and something was off.

She knew she couldn't hide it from him. "We had our first suspected murder today. Even after all the death we've experienced, people still kill each other." Kate had made it to homicide detective even though she was the only one they had.

"I'll join you after I drop the boys off at school tomorrow." Rick had every intention of helping her just like he had before.

"We don't know much yet. I need to wait for Alexis to finish the autopsy." Kate snuggled up to him, thinking maybe sleep was a better idea. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

"You're a homicide detective; I get to be your partner. Alexis is the ME. Now we just need Javi and Kevin." Rick saw the similarities.

"I do wonder where they are now. Do they even remember their previous life or did they start all over again?" Kate did miss them a little especially now that they had a dead body.

~[o]~ **X** ~[o]~

"Hi Alexis, what have you got for me?" Kate came in to find Alexis still working on their dead body.

"A lot actually. Our guy was shot by more than one arrow. The first one was only a wound, however, the second went right through his throat. But that's not all. Based on the damage I'm placing the trajectory like this." Alexis held up a laser to demonstrate.

Kate raised her hands to demonstrate an arrow shot only to have Alexis come over to her. "More like this." Alexis had her bend at the waist.

"He was on the ground when he was killed. The first shot I could see as an accident," Kate commented.

"There were no arrows found at the scene so he – or they – policed their shots. Were Dad and the boys out hunting?" Alexis prayed that her family wasn't involved in this.

"They were at school and none of them are scheduled for another couple of days." Kate knew her family was in the clear. She changed the subject. "How are Jarod and the girls?"

"Amazing as ever. I still can't believe how well he took it all. Oh, and Cassie has started to notice boys. Not like there aren't enough of them." Alexis rolled her eyes which made Kate smile since she recognized that look. Females were outnumbered almost 3 to 1.

"James has noticed that all the girls are taken so I get it from the other end." Kate mimicked Alexis and rolled her eyes.

"There's one more thing." Alexis tried to hide her smile since this was a really big deal for all of them.

"You know who killed him?" Was it that simple? But no, Alexis was smiling. "What?"

"I was offered a job last night!" Alexis was almost dancing.

"Another one?" How many jobs did Alexis think she needed? Yes, this was the only dead body they had but this could just be the start. They had a killer out there.

"I got a job in the VOID!" This time Alexis did start dancing in place.

Kate remembered something her husband had told her once. "He knows what door my mother went through."


End file.
